Bringing the next billion people online

The dynamics of knowledge acquisition has greatly shifted since the mass adoption of the Internet. Children, students, parents and teachers use the Internet to accelerate the learning process in this era of globalisation.

More businesses continue to extend their reach, brand presence and engagement through the World Wide Web.

The citizens of the world are accustomed to accessing information in an instant, a process that used to require weeks of research. With the advent of social media, the Internet has also evolved into a platform for political and civic engagement.

Even as the access to information technology infrastructure improves, billions of people (4.3 billion) remain off the grid. Citing the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations agency responsible for the development of information and communication technology, it is reported that 90 percent of the 4.3 billion people yet to gain access to the Internet are from the developing nations.

Google: Project Loon

Netizens are no stranger to Google, most have gotten used to many of the seamless products and experiences that the company offers.

The deep-pocketed tech giant generated a total revenue of USD 66 billion in 2014, continues to map the world, helping us to adapt to a foreign place and becoming our best friend and personal assistant.

While it continues to collect and analyse user data in order to increase its search algorithm’s accuracy in targeting and serving online users with ads, Google has manifested itself in many aspects of our lives. Never before has it crossed my mind that Google may one day play a role in powering the Internet as well.

The concept of Project Loon is possibly one that naysayers may quickly dismiss with a wave of a hand. Will it work?

It turns out that it is possible. Powering the Internet using a fleet of high-altitude, solar-powered balloons? Such an ingenious idea.

With an unwavering belief and persistence, lots of experimentations and hours of “failure analysis” to overcome engineering challenges, Project Loon has demonstrated awe-inspiring result since the announcement in 2013.

Google aims to bring affordable Internet to parts of the world without Internet access, where each balloon would rise more than 60,000 feet above the Earth’s surface while staying aloft in the stratosphere. Each balloon would act as a wireless station, providing broadband to users with Google-issued antenna installed.

Google has since improved the flight times of the balloons by upgrading the altitude control system. According to a report by the MIT Technology Review, the balloons now stay aloft for over 100 days on average, and a handful of them last up to 130 days.

Still at the testing phase, Project Loon has more computational and engineering challenges to solve before deploying the technology at a global scale.

Facebook: The Connectivity Lab

Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) and Facebook Connectivity Lab is taking another step forward in realising the ambitious dream to connect the world through the Internet.org project — in the form of a solar-powered unmanned aircraft.

Partnering up with technology companies like Samsung, Qualcomm, and Microsoft, Facebook aims to offer affordable internet access to everyone through the Internet.org initiative, similar to Google’s Project Loon.

Now available in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ghana, and India, Internet.org made the internet accessible to potentially millions of people by providing a set of free basic services on mobile.

Post the launch of Internet.org in India earlier in February 2015, Mark Zuckerberg reiterated the company’s mission on in a Facebook post “one day, we will connect everyone, and the power of the internet will serve every community across India and the world. That day is coming.”

Running in parallel to launching Internet.org mobile applications in developing countries, Facebook is building unmanned aircrafts to deliver the Internet.

While Facebook is already working with aerospace and communications technology experts, the acquisition of a UK-based aerospace company, Ascenta, helps to accelerate the development of the unmanned aircrafts.

Prior to joining Facebook, Ascenta built the early versions of Zephyr, the world's longest flying solar-powered unmanned aircraft. Key members of Ascenta, including the chief engineer who has a long history in the aerospace industry, joined forces with the team at Facebook Connectivity Lab.

Codenamed Aquila, it is reported that the aircraft operates on solar power and is capable of flying for three months at a time. Using laser beam technology, the aircrafts will be providing high-speed internet to users 60,000 to 90,000 feet below.

Developing new infrastructure that even technology partners and telecommunications companies want to be a part of, is a smart, long-term investment.

While there are more to gain for Google and Facebook in enabling more people accessing the Internet, solving computational and engineering equations to bring Internet access to the wider world is no easy feat.