Patience is the road kill along the route to Internet access. Several companies are playing to this gotta-have-it-now mentality by developing new –- and sometimes unorthodox -– networks that promise high-speed connections and a host of services.
The latest new-fangled system took to the skies Tuesday with its long, thin wings carrying it high above the Mojave Desert, just north of Los Angeles. The system, the High Altitude Long Operation (HALO) aircraft by Angel Technologies, is designed to deliver services, including high-definition video conferencing, while flying in a fixed pattern for hours, 10 miles above a metropolitan area.
HALO joins what is getting to be a crowded field of sky-bound communications technologies, all aimed at giving people low-cost, high-speed access to communications. The cost reduction comes from bypassing all or parts of the terrestrial, fiber-based communications network, a system riddled with access fees that add up on a customer’s bill.
By taking the avenues of a network -– the transmission pipes –- and placing them in the sky, systems like HALO hope to cobble together an all-new network that will eventually circle the globe. Sometimes, the network will work in tandem with parts of the ground-based networks. At other times, it will transmit directly between customers.
HALO would provide 24-hour service to a region through a fleet of three planes, each flown by two-man crews working eight-hour shifts. The aircraft would fly fixed patterns, providing coverage to an area 75 miles in diameter.
The signal's proximity would make it stronger than traditional satellites and it would not be blocked by buildings or terrain, a problem with tower-based systems, noted Peter Diamandis, president of Angel Technologies.
Through the system, HALO would transmit data at rates approaching 16 Gbps. A 100,000-page document taking roughly seven hours to transmit over a 28.8 Kbps modem would travel over the HALO network in a matter of seconds, the company said.
Already, satellite makers such as Iridium are lofting their Low-Earth Orbit satellites into space to build their networks. But some communications companies argue that even with LEO satellites -– which orbit at altitudes between 434 and 441 miles -– some delays in transmission will occur. Also, critics note that the high start-up costs of satellite networks -– Iridium cost US$4.4 billion to launch -– create huge barriers for entry on the part of companies, and that these costs will likely be passed along to customers.
Systems like HALO and the infamous Sky Station International bid to get around the costs and delays by decreasing the physical distance between network and customer and by designing a network that can be launched on a regional basis. So as soon as a plane goes up over a city, Angel Technologies can begin generating revenue. By contrast, LEO-based satellite systems must have most of their systems, called constellations, in place before they can begin selling services.
The 56-foot-long HALO craft was designed by aerospace legend Burt Rutan and with features like the forward wing, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Rutan’s craft Voyager, the first airplane to make a nonstop flight around the world without refueling. HALO is powered by two jet engines and carries the communications payload slung beneath its body.
Despite the involvement of a heavyweight like Rutan, HALO has yet to attract any partners. Currently, the company is looking for investors. Company officials estimate that it would cost $700 million to build 100 planes.
Angel hopes to launch its services in the year 2000, starting in Los Angeles.
