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AP
Cellular Balloons Still Tethered in N.D.
Tuesday October 31, 7:21 pm ET
By James Macpherson, Associated Press Writer
Cellular Balloons Have Yet to Get Off the Ground in North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- A lofty goal of launching wireless network equipment-carrying balloons in the North Dakota skies to fill gaps in cellular coverage hasn't gotten off the ground.
Space Data Corp., a Chandler, Ariz.-based company that is developing the balloon-borne cellular technology, recently was awarded a military contract that has taken precedence, said Jerry Knoblach, the company's chief executive.
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Former Gov. Ed Schafer, who has been pushing the idea of cellular balloon coverage in the state, said the plan is still more than just hot air.
"It's going to happen -- there's just too much demand for it," he said.
The idea is to launch weather balloons some 20 miles above the ground, where stratospheric winds would push them across the state at about 30 mph. Each balloon would deliver voice and data service to an area hundreds of miles in diameter.
Schafer had hoped the hydrogen-filled balloons could be drifting across the stratosphere this summer, providing cellular coverage at a fraction of the cost of building cellular towers.
Extend America, a company started by Schafer and other partners, worked on the cellular balloon project with Space Data, but sold its cell phone business to Nextel Communications Inc. last year and became involved in wireless broadband technology. The plans for trial balloons over North Dakota never got off the ground.
"I'm unhappy we're not making any progress," Schafer said. "My heart is still with getting connectivity to rural areas, especially rural North Dakota."
Knoblach said balloon technology electronics called SkySite are still being developed. Once the balloons transit the state's stratosphere, the electronic gear would be jettisoned remotely and would fall to the earth with a parachute. It would be recovered through a global positioning satellite device.
After the electronic equipment is released, the balloons would rise and expand with the drop in air pressure until they burst.
Knoblach said a contractor is building the equipment for his company. It must fit in a package weighing no more than 6 pounds, the maximum allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration -- in case a jet hits the payload falling to earth, he said.
Knoblach said making workable equipment would involve no more "than a couple of weeks of software time," but his company has other priorities now -- mainly a $49 million Air Force contract for battlefield communications. The contract involves much the same balloon-borne technology as providing rural cell phone coverage, but is specific to military radios, he said.
"It's critical that we put our resources out there for soldiers in the field, fighting the fight," Knoblach said. "We still plan on deploying a voice system in rural areas of the U.S., including the Dakotas -- but I can't tell you a date."
Knoblach said his company has launched thousands of the free-floating balloons in several states to track data for oil company vehicles, wells and pipelines. The balloon-borne cellular technology for rural areas is believed to be the first of its kind, he said.
Jerry Fossum, telecommunications director for the state Information Technology Department, said he saw promise with the cellular balloons when the company first pitched the plan. He said the state does not have money in the project.
"I'm starting to lose a little enthusiasm about it," Fossum said. "They haven't been able to produce -- it's a promise that has not been fulfilled."
