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With the help of 3.1 million euros from the EU’s Framework Programme,
the CAPANINA project brings together 13 partners from across Europe and
Japan and is named after the restaurant in Italy where initial
discussions were held. It will develop the equipment to operate from
aircraft or airships operating as ‘High Altitude Platforms’ (HAPs) that
are permanently located in the sky. Placing these HAPs at an altitude of
20 kilometers - well above the flight path of normal aeroplanes but
below satellites - will provide a cheaper and more efficient solution
than those currently available, as they do not require underground
cabling or masts.
“The HAPs technology is an interesting potential solution for delivering
Broadband Internet to rural, suburban and other hard-to-reach areas”,
says Peter Walters, FP6UK National Contact Point for IST. “Demand for
fast communication is increasing all over the world, and this technology
offers an innovative way of delivering broadband inexpensively to people
at home, in the office, and on the move.
“The opportunities offered by HAPs are exciting as they could deliver
broadband connections which are 2,000 times faster than a traditional
modem and 200 times faster than today’s ‘wired’ ADSL broadband. HAPs are
also easier to maintain than satellites as they can be periodically
brought back to earth for upgrades and maintenance.”
The project partners hope to achieve the first objective of CAPANINA -
to deliver broadband connections to rural areas across Europe - within
the next four years.
Then they will look at delivering Broadband to moving trains using
‘smart’ antenna systems, that link with access points on the train. This
will give passengers high-speed Internet connections from ‘Wi-Fi’
enabled lap-tops.
“This project shows how, with the support of Framework Funding, European
Research and Development can be at the forefront of technology
innovation”, says Paul Leeks, Project Director for FP6UK. “The
development of these high altitude platforms offers an exciting and
innovative solution to the likely communications problems of the future.
They have more capacity, provide quicker and cheaper connections and
have little impact on the environment.”
Source: Glasgows
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