Google to submit fresh proposal for Loon Project: Prasad

The IT minister said that it was found the project was interfering with the 700-900 Mhz that is being used by telcos

The government has asked Google for a fresh proposal for testing its balloon-based Internet technology for the Loon Project in India because of interference issues in the frequency band.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said Google India has approached the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to conduct a pilot test of the Project Loon in India. “The matter was discussed with all stakeholders and it was concluded that frequency band 700-900 MHz, to be used in the pilot test of Project Loon, is being used at present by cellular operators and if the pilot is carried out it will lead to interference with cellular transmissions.”

Under the Loon Project, Google will use big balloons, floating 20 km above the earth’s surface, for transmission of Internet services. It has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (in the US), and Brazil.

According to Google, each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area of about 40 km in diameter using a wireless communication technology called LTE, or 4G.

“Revised proposal form Google India with change of frequency band is yet to be received,” Prasad said.

An autonomous body under department of IT, ERNET India, is carrying out a pilot test to determine utilisation of TV white space for establishing Internet connectivity in gram panchayats.

TV whitespace technology utilises a part of the spectrum that remains unused while transmitting broadcast signals. The technology is being developed in 470-582-MHz band to utilise it for commercial mobile services.

Mobile consumers often complain of not receiving signals when they are inside buildings or in basements. However, TV whitespace is considered efficient to reach deep inside buildings. According to various studies, Wi-Fi signals can penetrate up to two walls but TV whitespace can penetrate many obstacles and provide coverage of up to 10 km.

Government has allocated 60 Mhz spectrum to ERNET - an autonomous body under the Telecom Ministry, 20 Mhz to power equipment maker BHEL, 10 Mhz or less each to IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIIT Bangalore, Tata Advanced Systems and 10 Mhz to Collector and Magistrate at Amrawati, he said.