Data centers are where the Internet lives. But the geography of the Internet will soon be expanding, creating challenges and opportunities for the data center industry. Silicon Valley hopes to bring wireless connectivity to the developing world, using everything from balloons to drones to satellites.
These wireless initiatives have major implications for where data centers are located and how they’re built and powered. They’re backed by some of the deepest pockets around, including Google, Facebook, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Richard Branson. While the timetable for deployment of these systems isn’t yet clear, the support of these tech titans brings the horizon closer than we may imagine.
As new technology brings wireless access to untapped markets, Internet infrastructure will extend to new places, supported by facilities that may look very different than the data centers in existing technology hubs. The benefits could be enormous for both society and business.
Consider the changes the Internet has brought to America in just 20 years. In 1995, the Internet meant dial-up access to read static web pages and post messages on AOL or bulletin boards. In 2015, it means always-on broadband that delivers HD video and e-commerce to smartphones and tablets. A similar evolution lies ahead for many emerging markets.
How will the data center sector sort out this opportunity? At Data Center Frontier, we’re focused on the future of data centers and cloud computing (if you are as well, you’ll want to sign up for our weekly newsletter). We start with an overview of the major players and technologies. Here’s our take on wiring the unwired, and why it matters to you.
The Challenge
There are about 3.2 billion people using the Internet, but that’s just 38 percent of the global population, leaving an unwired population of more than 4 billion. This is primarily a problem in emerging markets, but the FCC estimates that 55 million Americans – about 17 percent of the population – lack access to advanced broadband services.
But the largest opportunities are in underserved markets like Africa, rural India and Indonesia, where local fiber is scarce and Internet access is focused on mobile.
“It is clear that the mobile Internet will play a key role in bringing the next billion users online,” writes the Internet Society. “Mobile Internet has already leap-frogged fixed access in many countries because of limitations in the coverage of the fixed network, and the availability of mobile Internet access significantly outpaces adoption today.”
Facebook, Google and Microsoft are all investing in efforts to boost access in under-served markets. At Facebook, the Internet.org initiative is supported by the company’s connectivity lab, which is working to deliver wireless Internet via high-altitude solar-powered planes and laser networking technology.
“There are some really neat ways to leverage the science and the physics that we’ve figured out inside the datacenter to potentially help us get people connected to the internet, where we can reduce the cost or increase the capacity by an order of magnitude or more,” says Jay Parikh, vice president of engineering at Facebook.
“The Connectivity Lab team is very focused on the technical challenges of reaching those people who are typically in the more rural, unconnected parts of the world,” he adds. “I think that we need to get them access. … My hope is that we are able to deliver a very rich experience to them, including videos, photos and — some day — virtual reality and all of that stuff. But it’s a multi-, multi-, multi-year challenge, and I don’t see any end in sight right now.”
Balloons: Project Loon
One of the 50-foot tall balloons Google is using in Project look, its initiative to bring wireless Internet access to the world. (Image: Google)
Google describes its Project Loon initiative as “balloon-powered Internet for everyone.” The name reflects the somewhat crazy idea at the heart of the project – using high-altitude balloons 20 miles up in the stratosphere to create an aerial wireless network that can bring high-speed Internet to rural and remote areas.
The balloons are about 50 feet high, and hoist a box that contains circuit boards to control the system, radio antennas to communicate with other balloons and ground stations, and lithium ion batteries. The Loon balloons are equipped with solar panels, which produce about 100 watts of power in full sun, enough to keep Loon’s electronics running while also charging the battery for use at night.
The balloons travel at the edge of space, where Google used software algorithms to guide them through layers of shifting winds. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications network. Earlier this year Google said it has developed a way to pass high-frequency Internet signals from balloon to balloon in midair, creating a mesh network that can connect a large area using a relatively small number of ground stations.
Project Loon may get its first real-world test-drive in the island nation of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Google has agreed to begin deploying Project Loon balloons in March 2016, providing supplemental high-speed connectivity to Internet providers, allowing them to reduce their operating costs.
NEXT: Facebook’s Solar-Powered Drones
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