Icon: enlarge
Telekom test aircraft
Photo: Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom also wants to supply its customers with mobile communications and the Internet from the stratosphere.
Together with the British start-up Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), voice and data connections in 4G quality via an aircraft flying on the edge of the stratosphere have been successfully tested, the Bonn-based Dax group announced on Monday.
Several test flights in early October in Bavaria at an altitude of 14 kilometers, in which the radio technology was used, were successful.
"We have shown that we can bring fast Internet and connectivity everywhere in the future," said the head of the telecommunications infrastructure subsidiary Deutsche Funkturm, Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, who is also on the supervisory board of SPL.
The aim is to close dead spots in remote areas in this way.
So far, the big US technology groups Facebook and Google have made a name for themselves with similar projects.
While Facebook has now crushed its program with the so-called Aquila drones, which were supposed to supply regions without network coverage with Internet, the world's largest search engine provider Google is sticking to its loon balloons.
It is about improving internet access worldwide, according to the Loon website, which mainly refers to projects in African countries such as Kenya and Mozambique.
Radio cells 100 kilometers in size
Deutsche Telekom expects the high-flying platforms, which are to be carried by remote-controlled aircraft, to complement the existing mobile network on the ground - especially in remote areas, such as in the mountains.
more on the subject
Cellular quality: Germany's map of dead spots is online
Due to the altitude and the almost unobstructed view of the ground, according to Telekom, an aircraft can supply radio cells with a diameter of up to 100 kilometers with special antennas.
The customer should not be aware of the transition from a classic cell phone mast to a flying antenna.
Also with 5G in the future
SPL, of which Telekom is the largest shareholder, is currently working on the development of a hydrogen-powered remote-controlled aircraft that will operate as a mobile radio mast in the stratosphere and provide both 4G and 5G network coverage.
According to SPL, the platform is around 60 meters wide, which is roughly the span of a Boeing 747, but weighs only 3.5 tons.
According to its own information, SPL is currently in the middle of talks for a new financing round.
The start-up, which was founded six years ago, is planning its first flight in mid-2022. Operations should then start in 2024.
Icon: The mirror
mak / Reuters
