Broadband PerHAPs?

The CAPANINA project will develop wireless and optical broadband technologies for use on High Altitude Platforms (HAPs).

Typically a HAP is an airship that cruises at an altitude of around 20 kilometers, well above any normal aircraft (but being in the stratosphere, substantially below any orbiting satellites).

CAPANINA will deliver low cost broadband communications services to small office and home users at data rates up to 120 Megabits per second. A staggering 2,000 times faster than today's dial-up modems and more than 200 times faster than a typical "wired" broadband facility.

Users in rural and other "hard to reach" areas will benefit thanks to the unique wide-area, high-capacity wireless coverage provided by HAPs.

Additionally, use of "smart" roof-top antennas on trains will provide the moving user with high speed internet connectivity.

Note from Technophile: Stratospheric broadband fills the gap between satellite and terrestrial wireless technologies. Furthermore, without the need to dig up roads to lay new cables, it is of particular relevance to rural, suburban and moving users. Is Wi-Fi in the sky a dream? Perhaps. However, in August of 2005, Capanina successfully tested the concept in Sweden, sending data 37 miles!

:: Source: [CAPANINA]
:: Innovation: Can deliver wireless broadband access anywhere in the world!
:: Available: 2011
:: Cost: 1/10 as much as satellites and could support a thousand times as many users!