Google To Introduce High-Speed Internet Using Light Beams

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What has happened?

Google is reportedly in talks with telecom companies Airtel and Jio to introduce high-speed internet and telecom connectivity using light beams.
The technology is part of Project Taara which uses light to transmit information at super high speeds through the air as a very narrow, invisible beam.
It is like fiber but without the cables, as per Project X, a company within Google.
For years, Google had a secret skunkworks lab called Google X.
It’s where the company cooked up things like space elevators, robotics projects, and the infamous self-driving car.
The Google X lab became slightly less secret when reports on it appeared in the news.

The technology sends light beams instead of radio waves between transmitters and receivers attached to servers placed on buildings and structures.
The speed could be as high as 20 gigabytes a second compared with less than one gigabyte a second that many consumers get now.
This will be a game-changer since it can connect one to remote regions,
Have internet connectivity across buildings without cables and reduce the burden on towers.

Project Taara has been piloted in Andhra Pradesh in India and Kenya in Africa, as per reports.
Google’s Project X noted that their team is in conversation with telcos, ISPs and governments around the world
About the potential for wireless optical communication technology to significantly accelerate the deployment of the extensive, high-throughput networks necessary to support the future of the web.
The system is effective in areas that are difficult to connect using fiber cables.
These include sites located around forests, water bodies, railway tracks, or land with high real estate costs.
It is based on open standards to work seamlessly with existing infrastructure and environments.

A single link can cover distances up to 20 Km and be used to extend fiber networks.
The project aims to offer a cost-effective and quickly deployable way to bring high-speed connectivity to remote areas.
They have the potential to help thousands of people access the educational, business, and communication benefits of the web.

This is not Google’s first foray into internet plans – it already has Loon (weather balloons) and
The company also was working on bringing high-speed internet to Indian railways stations, a project that has now been discontinued.
Earlier in February this year, Google shut its ‘Station’ project through which it gave free Wi-Fi to 415 railway stations in India.
The project was pulled off by the company after 5 years of its operation owing to the increased 4G connectivity across the country and cheap data
In July, Google had committed $10 billion to India under its digitisation fund out of which Rs 33,737 crore were invested in Jio Platforms for a 7.7% stake.