jimdahl Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 N.D. to test balloons for cellular service Why put up costly cell phone towers in thinly populated areas, when a few balloons would do? 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.Of course, I remember everyone saying he was crazy to run against Spaeth, polling at something like 70% at the time... "To cover every square mile of North Dakota, it would take 1,100 cell towers," Schafer said. "We can do the whole state with three balloons." "Nine balloons would always be in the air, with some going up, some going down, and some in the middle," Schafer said. The balloons swell from six feet in diameter to 30 feet after they gain altitude. Once a balloon leaves the state, its toaster-size communications pod would jettison, deploy a parachute and fall to earth, where it would signal its position. "We'd pay some guy a bounty, put in a new battery pack and send it off again," Knoblach said. Schafer said the repeater could be used indefinitely "unless it lands in a lake or gets run over by a truck." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star2city Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 N.D. to test balloons for cellular service Sound like an innovative possibility. If this is feasible, why not expand the coverage to SD, Wyoming, and Montana - just kepp a few more baloons aloft for a longer time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmrg74 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Well, its a test for right now, try out a small area, let real world conditions and real idiots do their worst with the system, figure out if their is any small bugs in the system that they can fix, and once its proven pretty much foolproof, everywere where there isn't any coverage at all is going to be clamering for the things. How handy would it be for boaters out on the Great Lakes to be able to get cell coverage when they're way out from shore? Plus, any other area that has a strong, NIMBY attitude when it comes to the cell towers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 These balloons are yet another thing that can bring down a crop duster. And then, when a balloon does go down (with the crop duster) cell phone users will get so pissed off that their call got dropped just when they were getting to the useless, but entertaining gossip, that they'll slam their car into the nearest obstacle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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