Google Enters Emerging Market Wireless Network Biz

By Paul Thomson :: 12:58 AM

Search company Google is exploring entry into the wireless networking business, launching an initiative to introduce both wireless technology and affordable computing to emerging markets in Africa and Southeast Asia.

According to published reports in the Wall Street Journal, Google will focus on rural areas and suburbs outside major cities, where traditional wired connections are not possible. Google will also use the technology it develops for countryside use to improve connectivity in city centers.

The plan makes use of portions of the wireless spectrum that are usually reserved for television broadcasts. Google’s expected solution makes use of a network of high-altitude balloons that help propagate wireless signals across hundreds of square miles of rural areas.

Google plans to engage local wireless and telecommunications companies in its rollout efforts, though no formal partnerships or participating companies have yet been named.

The effort abroad mirrors Google’s plan to create a robust Internet access infrastructure in the U.S. with its Google Fiber rollout. Fiber already is available in Kansas City, and will be coming soon to Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas.