July 11, 2006
Mobile phone airship to conquer stratosphere
A zeppelin will replace all of the terrestrial mobile phone antennas in Switzerland - if a Swiss inventor has his way, according to swissinfo via digg.
"Should Kamal Alavi's project for the high-tech airship take wing, the worlds of mobile telephony and data transmission would be turned on their heads.
Not only would the technology, called High Altitude Platform Systems (Haps), make the current 1,000 earth-bound antennas redundant, it would drastically reduce radiation."
... The X station would not be limited to forwarding mobile telephone signals, but would also be capable of handling the radio, television and internet needs of entire nations."
Related:
-- Lofting Balloons for Cell Service - In North Dakota, former Gov. Ed Schafer is backing a plan to loft wireless network repeaters on balloons high above the state to fill gaps in cellular coverage.
-- Internet access takes to the skies - For anyone old enough to remember, in 1998, a US company offered Internet access thanks to a zeppelin.
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