Boston start-up Altaeros develops autonomous balloons. The company announced that it received $ 7.5 million from the telecommunications giant SoftBank. This money should accelerate the launch of the program SuperTower, whose goal is to connect remote rural areas to the Internet, writes TechCrunch.

The startup has been working on its balloons for years. Initially, the company did not narrow the specialization of its aircraft. They stated that for them there could be a lot of useful applications. In the past two years, the need for an effective infrastructure that will provide remote areas with access to the network. In this regard, the startup undertook the implementation of the SuperTower project to provide this infrastructure. Prospects in this direction are difficult to overestimate. Now, access to the Internet is complicated (or impossible at all) for 4 billion people. The one who gets to them first will get a huge advantage.

SuperTower is a balloon that hovers at an altitude of 250 meters and distributes the Internet. The startup promises to telecom companies expand the coverage area by 70% less compared to installing traditional towers. In the future, such a model will require much less energy for work. A system of balloons can be deployed both on an ongoing basis and temporarily: during emergencies or other network disruptions.

It should be noted that similar projects are already being implemented by Facebook and Google. The first is the project Aquila in the second - the project Loon. The question is, why do we need another company and what are its advantages. The fact is that in Altaeros they say that their system is the easiest to implement in existing networks. In fact, this is another link tower, only flying. Compatible equipment is installed on balloons, it requires the same registration as on conventional towers, the same maintenance, and it is understood by existing specialists. So you can deploy such a network as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.

In addition, unlike competitors, the company's balloons are tied to the ground by conductive ropes. If more power is needed, this can easily be ensured.

The solution from Google only contains solar panels. At the same time, the company says that their solution can be used in conjunction with products from other companies. They explain that their balloons provide the Internet at the last mile, and the same FB Aquila drones work at medium distances. Together they can complement each other. As well as the satellites of OneWeb, which recently approved the launch of 700 devices to distribute the Internet to remote areas.