Report: Google Secretly Testing '5G' Internet Using Flying Drones

Data transmission using millimeter wave technology is getting a lot of press lately. First, the startup Starry has an event where it shows off a super-expensive router and its vision of how it might become a wireless ISP of-sorts: using high-frequency spectrum to transmit data signals to and from a box that hangs outside your house or apartment, which should (presumably) get you gigabit speeds so long as you have line-of-sight between the receiver and transmitter.

And now, a new report from The Guardian reveals that Google is also testing out millimeter wave technology for high-speed Internet access. Google's plan appears much different, however. First off, it's conducting its tests in secret—under the alleged codename of "SkyBender" (which sounds a bit more like the title of a James Bond film than an actual project).

Google, unlike Starry, doesn't seem to be very interested in static base stations. Instead, Google is testing out flying drones and other support aircraft that would be able to use millimeter wave transmissions to give connected clients gigabit transmission speeds. However, the difficulty in doing so is that these transmissions have a working range that's much, much less than today's 4G transmissions. Google can use phased arrays to focus transmissions between a drone and a connected client, but it's an expensive (and power-hungry) proposition.

As for what might happen when it rains, when it's foggy, or when some other weather condition affects the transmissions (or the drones themselves), we don't yet know—and Google might not either, given that the weather isn't likely to get very crazy at the New Mexico spaceport where the company is testing out these transmissions. It's actually leasing around 15,000 or so feet of space at the Virgin Galactic "Gateway to Space" terminal for an alleged $1,000 per day, and has spent around $300,000 for the various equipment it needs to run its tests. These tests will continue until July or so, which is how long the Federal Communications Commission has given the company permission to run them.

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It's unlikely that you'll see a bunch of solar-powered SkyBender drones hovering around the places you typically frequent at any point soon. However, since Google's SkyBender project falls under its Google Access team—which also works on Project Loon—it's possible that Google could also be using its tests to work on more ways to quickly deploy wireless connectivity to areas that need it, like places affected by a natural disaster.