Google Is Testing Drones That Could Bring The Internet To Remote Lands

Google Is Testing Drones That Could Bring The Internet To Remote Lands

Man, Google really is all in on drones. After testing delivery drones as a part of its Project Wing program, the company has now asked the FCC for permission to test drones that could eventually be used to deliver internet access to remote areas of the planet.

Back in April, Google bought a high-altitude drone startup called Titan Aerospace, whose drones would run around collecting “real-time, high-resolution images of the Earth” in addition to supporting voice and data services. Google planned to integrate the company into Project Loon, the company’s mad genius plan to shoot high-altitude balloons into space to cover the world in a blanket of Googley Wi-Fi.

According to the FCC filing, Google wants permission to carry out its drone tests for 180 days from October 6, 2014. Ars Technica reports that the coordinates point to a test sit “in a square east of Albuquerque and south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, centered roughly on the unincorporated community of Stanley.”

Google plans the transmit at frequencies from 910 MHz to 927 MHz and from 2.4 GHz to 2.414 GHz. But there are no details on exactly what these drones would be transmitting — they were redacted from the public version of the filing. [Ars Technica]


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