Alphabet's X Lab has developed a way to relay Internet signals through wireless optical communication links, or light beams to put it more simply, as part of a project called Project Taara. (Google / Taart Project)

Google wants remote areas of India to have multi-gigabit internet access with Project Taara

Adriana MaraisDecember 15, 20 Airtel, Alphabet, Google, jio, project taara

Google wants to use light beams to bring the internet to some of the most remote parts of India, as reports say. This is not Google’s first foray into internet plans – it already has Loon and the company was also working on high-speed internet at Indian train stations, a project that has now been halted.

However, for the latest plan to be successful, Google would join forces with a local Indian telecom company.

Alphabet’s X Lab has developed a way to relay Internet signals through wireless optical communication links, or light beams to put it more simply, as part of a project called Project Taara. This technology has been tested in pilot programs in parts of Africa and India for a year already and Google has made significant progress in sub-Saharan Africa by working with regional operators to cover more areas.

According to a report released by ET, Google is also looking to do something similar in India.

After an extended trial in Andhra Pradesh, Google is said to be looking to partner with Airtel and Jio to deploy the same technology in remote areas of the country. However, it is not official that Google is pursuing these plans, as testing is in its very early stages. Additionally, we cannot expect massive deployments across the country anytime soon, even if they do occur.

Google said the technology is suitable for uneven terrain where laying fiber optic cables can be a problem. With light beams, instead of cables, Google can send links to a smart tower up to 20 km with data speeds of up to 20 Gbps.

This optical link that Google uses works on the same principle as the usual fiber optic cable to transfer data using light signals, but it carries it in the wireless form.

Google recently invested a large chunk of its $10 billion committed India fund on Reliance Jio to strengthen its presence in the low-budget Android market. For now, we have to wait for official confirmation from Google to learn more about the Taara project.