Google Internet balloon plan faces legal obstacle in Lanka

Google’s venture to beam the Internet to remote areas of the world via balloon has hit a legal snag in Sri Lanka that could see the project abandoned on the island, a minister has said.“Project Loon” uses roaming balloons to beam Internet coverage and planned to connect Sri Lanka’s 21mn people to the web, even those in remote connectivity black spots.But just a year after testing began in Sri Lanka regulators have been unable to allocate Google a radio frequency for the airborne venture without breaching international regulations. Communications Minister Harin Fernando said the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union (ITU) was opposed to Google using the same frequency as Sri Lanka’s public broadcasters to provide its Internet.“It boils down to a legal issue,” Fernando told reporters in Colombo. “The government as well as Google are lobbying the ITU, but if we fail there’s a risk Google will go to another country that is not bound by these rules.”Google’s giant helium-filled balloons act as floating mobile base stations, beaming high-speed Internet to areas beyond the reach of ground-based telecommunication towers.The first of three balloons – which roam the stratosphere at twice the altitude of commercial aircraft – entered Sri Lankan air space a year ago after being going airborne in South America.The government and Google planned a joint venture where Colombo would receive a 25% stake, without any capital investment, for sharing its cellular spectrum with the project.One of the balloons was found in a Sri Lankan tea plantation after its maiden test flight last year, although authorities described it as a controlled landing.About one-third of Sri Lankans have regular access to the Internet, a figure expected to swell through the Loon project.Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to introduce mobile phones in 1989, and also the regional frontrunner when it unveiled a 4G network three years ago.