Five weird ways to bridge the digital divide

Broadband may be as common, and almost as cheap, as chips in Blighty these days but there are plenty of places in the world where bog-standard fat pipes are harder to come by.

The UN's comms agency, the International Telecommunications Union, is touting the importance of satellite technology in bridging the world's communications divide - as it can offer high-capacity transmission capabilities over wide areas, and bypasses the need to lay cabling and install other fixed infrastructure.

The A to Z of broadband

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A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies

Another connectivity contender for getting to out-of-the-way places is long-range wireless IP-based tech WiMax, which can beam connectivity over distances of tens of kilometres. It could therefore be used to snugly blanket whole cities with wireless broadband coverage.

But some delivery solutions really take thinking outside the broadband box to a new level. Here are five weird and wonderful alternatives to getting a fat pipe fix...

Balloons

Looking to the skies is US company Space Data which has pioneered a wireless data and mobile phone services delivery method that makes use of weather balloons.

The company affixes wireless transceivers to hydrogen- or helium-filled weather balloons and releases them so they travel to between 65,000 and 100,000 feet.

From there each balloon creates a coverage circle of more than 400 miles. Balloons do not last long in the upper atmosphere but new ones are launched every eight to 12 hours to provide continuous coverage.

Space Data's so-called SkySite Network service has been used by companies in the oil and gas field - and currently its system facilitates low speed, machine-to-machine comms - but it has plans for advanced balloon-bourn wireless services. And according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, internet behemoth Google has shown interest in the company and its methodology.

However, Space Data is not the only company to have attempted to get inflatable broadband off the ground.

A few years back, UK-based company SkyLinc was touting its Low-Cost Integrated Broadband Radio Access communications platform - a delivery method that proposed to use inflatable base stations, tethered to fibre-optic poles, to bring the benefits of broadband to remote communities.

More than just hot air? Time will tell on this one…

That stinks! For smelly broadband… click to page 2