Govt. to make fresh appeal for Google Loon

Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said Sri Lanka will make a fresh application for the Google Loon Project initiated almost two years ago to determine this innovation as a viable project for increasing the country’s internet penetration.

“We will make a fresh application again with Google and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU),” the Minister said on the sidelines of the 2nd Sri Lanka Broadband Forum held in Colombo yesterday.

In February, the Minister said that project may be withdrawn from the country as a result of a spectrum issue with the ITU.

The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) had been asked to release 10 MHz Pair (10 MHz/10MHz) in the 700 band spectrum for a period not exceeding 12 months for the Google Loon trials. With Sri Lanka being a member state of ITU, TRCSL had clarified the request with the international body. However, ITU had said the frequencies could not be released. 

Sri Lanka’s Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), which is facilitating the project, referred the matter to the country’s Attorney General (AG) early this year. 

The Google Loon project aims to provide high-speed internet at lower costs using a high altitude balloon creating an aerial wireless network.