Alphabet (GOOGL) is taking a novel approach in its long-term efforts to bring affordable internet access to rural communities and remote areas.
It’s using lasers to provide web access in hard-to-find locations.
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Alphabet calls the campaign Taara, and it’s a key project operating within Alphabet’s “X” innovation lab.
The new venture, which was announced on June 26, 2023 and first reported by Reuters, uses beams of light to deliver web access at high speeds, negating the need for cable-based internet transmission.
Structurally, the Taara unit is about the size of a traffic light. The terminal beams the data-carrying laser out to remote areas via terminal base stations, at a lightning-fast 20 gigabits-per-second speed. The Taara terminals will be installed in regions where fiber optic networks either can’t operate or are financially unfeasible to install.
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The venture could significantly boost Alphabet’s stock price if Taara succeeds in connecting with largely untapped – and unlinked – parts of the world. Alphabet estimates that global internet traffic will grow by 25% annually.
"Nearly 3 billion people around the world do not have access to the internet, and billions more remain underserved with growing data demand," the company stated on its website.
If Taara can provide internet service to remote villages in India or seaside villages in Fiji, that should boost demand for additional Internet services that Alphabet provides, especially in search engine technologies.
While pricing hasn’t been firmed up yet, company executives say cost efficiency is a key component in the Taara project.
"We are trying to be one of the cheapest and the most affordable places where you would be able to get a dollar per gigabyte to the end consumers," said Taara’s lead executive Mahesh Krishnaswamy, in comments to Reuters.
Alphabet shares are trading at $119 per share, as of June 29.
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