02.13.02
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Arizona Firm Sees Weather Balloons as Wireless Telephone Technology
Weather balloons launched every day would be used to provide wireless telephone service in rural areas under a plan devised by a Chandler, Ariz., company.
Space Data Corp., which is located at the Stellar Air Park, demonstrated its SkySite concept this week at the IDG DEMO 2002 conference at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs resort in Phoenix. The meeting annually draws high-tech executives, venture capitalists and journalists to view demonstrations of the latest technology.
Under the plan, Space Data would use un-tethered weather balloons launched daily by the National Weather Service to carry light-weight wireless communications equipment to an altitude of 100,000 feet. There, at the "SkySite," they would relay voice and data signals to remote areas at a fraction of the cost of installing cell towers or launching satellites, company officials say. Space Data wants to operate as a "carrier's carrier," serving wireless companies that in turn provide cell phone service and other wireless communication, such as paging, to consumers.
The system would allow wireless carriers to extend their reach into previously unserved and underserved areas at a reasonable cost, said Jerry Knoblach, Space Data's chief executive and co-founder. "Although weather balloons have been used day-in and day-out for more than six decades, Space Data is the first company to adapt this very reliable system for wireless communications," he said.
The company is targeting the 20 percent of the American population that lives in areas not served by cell phone systems, he said. Space Data is negotiating with the National Weather Service on joint use of balloons but so far has not reached a final agreement. Also the company has not yet completed any agreements with wireless carriers.
Still, the company hopes to begin commercial service in the southwestern United States in 2003 and expand later nationwide. Space Data was started in 1998 by Knoblach and Chief Technology Officer Eric Frische, former students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both previously were in the satellite business. They started the new enterprise backed by $9 million in venture capital from investors. "We had been trying to start a venture, and this one hit all the aspects of what we consider important — a good business model, a strong technology base and a strong need," Frische said.
With a staff of about 20, the company has developed a system to relay wireless e-mail messages. The company hopes to roll out a voice-capable system in about two years, but that will depend on financing, Frische said. The Federal Communications Commission approved the SkySite technology in September and granted nationwide narrow-band spectrum to Space Data in November. Weather service officials were not available for comment Tuesday. The concept of relaying communications from high-altitude platforms isn't new, Frische said. But past designs used large blimps, which were too costly and posed too many safety problems. "What we are doing is combining what the weather service is already doing with technology that is already developed," he said.
Although the system doesn't have a high infrastructure cost, there is a substantial ongoing operating cost. Because weather balloons only stay aloft for a maximum of 24 hours, the equipment must be relaunched twice a day to assure uninterrupted service.
About 70 launch sites would be needed to cover the continental United States. Sothere would have to be more than 51,000 launches a year at an annual cost is about $15 million. But that's still less than the cost of building and maintaining a network of cell towers in rural areas, Frische said. Will Strauss, a Tempe-based technology analyst, said a lot of work will be needed to gain all of the required regulatory approvals for such a service. "The problem is it's a patchwork," he said. "You're talking about something that would have to go across the bounds of different cellular operators. The logistics of it are pretty strange."
Still he said the idea couldn't be dismissed entirely. "Certainly there is a need for it, and it's technically feasible. Maybe the economics are there."
Mark Genrich, a spokesman for Qwest Communications International,
was unfamiliar with the proposal but added that Qwest wants
to extend the range of its wireless service. "That is
one reason we would be open to looking as something like
this," he said. "We are always open to ways to
serve customers in the most efficient manner."
(c) 2002, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.