Broadband by blimp idea floated

UK-based telecoms outfit SkyLINC wants to build a network of base stations in balloons, tethered 1.5km high, as a platform for delivering broadband to rural communities.

The Register reports that SkyLINC`s Libra (Low-Cost Integrated Broadband Radio Access) platform could be used to provide symmetrical broadband connections of 1Mbps and above to the vast majority of UK small businesses from a network of 18 helium-filed balloons.

The balloons are held stationary by a tether. A fibre optic cable is used to transmit signals between a base station and an antenna in the balloon (more properly called aerostats). Although the idea sounds a bit odd at first, the US government has been using similar technology for decades.

The history of Itanic, the Intel processor, is "dotted with various foibles, follies and disasters", reports The Register. "One perhaps overlooked, however, is the word Enron on the Intel 64 Fund Web site."

The site reminisces that the $250 million Intel 64 Fund was first announced in 1999. A number of companies chipped into the fund to help nudge Itanic-related projects along. The outdated list of investors includes Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Enron.

Itanic Rising is a book that walks users through the ins and outs of Intel`s 64-bit chip and talks about the economic benefits of having an industry-standard high-end chip. What the book does not address, the site reports, is that volume is required to take advantage of volume economics. Itanium 2 has managed to generate more than four-digit unit sales, but "that does not a volume product make. Add a lack of software and a down economy to the mix, and the story does not get much better."