Google pushes FCC to study high-altitude platform stations for broadband services

Google supports the idea of the Federal Communications Commission authorizing resources for the study of broadband delivered from high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), which are 20 to 50 kilometers above ground. Google says it is developing unmanned aircraft that will circle for months at about 20 kilometers in the stratosphere to maintain coverage of a constant service area on the ground. Such nominally fixed aircraft, which could be considered HAPS, are one promising model for delivery of broadband, particularly to underserved communities, according to the search company.

In a May 15 meeting with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's legal advisor Renee Gregory and special counsel Diane Cornell, Google's director of communications law, Austin Schlick, noted that Google and others in the US have been investing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including for the delivery of broadband communications to underserved communities, and for disaster relief. As the ITU has recognized, stations operating at an altitude of approximately 20 km are high enough to provide service to a large footprint but low enough to provide dense coverage at low latency. High-altitude stations, located in the stratosphere above weather incidents, are also resilient to storms below and therefore can be an effective tool during and after a natural disaster, according to Google.