The Wireless Weblog

The Wall Street Journal's Amol Sharma today broke the news that Google is considering deploying wireless Internet via balloon, through a possible partnership with (or even an outright purchase of) Space Data Corp., which deploys balloons that support communication services for truckers and oil companies.

"About 36% of rural Americans don't have Internet connections," Sharma writes. "The problem is that it's expensive to string cable or build cellphone towers in areas with so few customers. Space Data says a single balloon can serve an area otherwise requiring 40 cell towers."

"And as a BusinessWeek article from last month revealed, Space Data believes it can cover the whole country with a WiMax broadband network with just 370 balloons," writes Gizmodo's Sean Fallon. "Compare that with the 22,000 or so towers that would be necessary using traditional methods. It may be non-traditional but it is a dammed good idea. My mind has just been blown."

More here from Digital Trends … more here from dBTechno … more here from Electronista … more here from Broadband Reports … more here from Techtree.com … more here from Computeworld … and more here from MobHappy.

• Schumer Seeks $50 Million for Rural Wi-Fi
• Rural U.S. Still Lacks Broadband Access
• Google Proposes Money-Saving Spectrum Auction System
• Sprint Conquers the World, Part II: Google Joins the Team
• Verizon Counters Sprint's Expansion Plans, Buys Rural Wireless
• Wireless Security Spending to Increase by up to 20 Percent
• American Tower Corporation Sues Zeitlin for Defamation (UPDATED)
• Introducing the Cell Phone MRI
• Rural Cellular Association Argues Against Cell Phone Exclusivity