Google Reports Progress in Bringing Internet Service to Rural Areas

 

The owner of technology company Google has reported progress in its plan to offer Internet service to rural areas around the world.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, calls the plan “Project Loon¹.” Its goal is to increase access to the billions of people currently without internet connectivity.

Alphabet has no plans to use traditional wiring, which can be costly². Instead the idea is to float huge balloons about 20 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.

The balloons would act like telecommunications satellites, providing internet service to the rural areas. The huge objects would ride air currents to either stay in place or move to another position high in the skies.

At first, the idea was to have a large number of balloons circling the planet. One balloon would move away from an area while another arrived to guarantee service in the affected³ areas.

But Alphabet announced it has found a way to make balloons float over one area for an extended period.

In a statement released online, the company said its software “can now send small teams of balloons to form a cluster over a specific region where people need internet access. This is a shift from our original model…in which we planned to create rings of balloons sailing around the globe, and balloons would take turns moving through a region to provide service.”

The company said the discovery was made during tests of balloons launched from the island of Puerto Rico to float in Peruvian airspace. The company said some of the balloons stayed in the same area for as long as three months.

The company said the discovery should speed up the project and reduce costs: “We’ll reduce the number of balloons we need and get greater value out of each one.”

But Project Loon workers must still find ways to increase the life of the balloons. A British Broadcasting Corporation report says the longest service for a single balloon was 190 days.

Google has also explored the idea of providing internet service to rural areas using solar-powered drone aircraft. But it cancelled that project because of technological⁴ barriers and high costs.

Words in This Story

access – n. permission or ability to enter or pass through a place; ability to communicate with a person or thing

cluster – n. a group of similar things

specific region – n. a given area

shift – n. a move or change

solar – adj. of or related to the sun

aircraft – n. something that flies; a vehicle for traveling through the air

1 loon   

n.狂人

参考例句：

• That guy's a real loon.那个人是个真正的疯子。
• Everyone thought he was a loon.每个人都骂他神经。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。