Wireless Spewing Airships Get Another Name
from the what-to-call-them? dept
It seems that lots of folks have come up with the idea of providing wireless broadband connectivity by employing some form of floating air ship that covers a wide area. What's amusing to me, though, is that every time someone comes up with such a plan, they come up with a different name to call it. First, there were the stratelites, which were floating blimps that would provide satellite style wireless broadband from a lower altitude. Then, there were the aerostats, which would float high up in the air, but were still tethered to the ground. The tether would be a fiber optic cable, which would provide the backhaul connection. Now, the latest plan calls them "HAPs" for "high-altitude platforms", and this plan comes from a consortium of communications companies and research institutes who have been given a little bit of money. Of course, there are still a ton of technical and business model questions to be answered - so chances are there will be a few more iterations with a few more new names before anyone is actually using such a system.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Let the name-game begin...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Excellent!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Stratellites
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
honeywell humidifier
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
reply this topic
[ link to this | view in chronology ]