In 2015, Google $GOOGL’s product head at the time, Sundar Pichai, made headlines when he announced “Project Titan,” a new initiative to deliver internet by solar-powered airplanes. A recent report by The Guardian suggests Google’s experimental foray into wireless internet delivery isn’t going that well.
There are a number of interesting revelations from The Guardian investigation into the initiative, apparently now named ”Project SkyBender.” The details of the project have been kept tightly under wraps and The Guardian says it used “public records laws” to obtain its information, including the contents of emails exchanged between Google executives and the state-owned facility where the project is based. The report leaves the impression that Google doesn’t seem particularly adept at managing projects that involve cumbersome construction and hardware installations, as opposed to the slick software deployments it is known for. Google declined to comment to the Guardian, and didn’t respond to a request for clarification from Quartz. Here’s a breakdown of The Guardian’s report, with context:
The company has already been investing in infrastructure in a more conventional form with Google Fiber. The service currently has a tiny base of just 100,000 to 120,000 paying subscribers in the nine US cities it serves, according to estimates by asset management firm Alliance Bernstein, but that could grow to 15 to 20 million households in the next six years, the firm forecasted. That could eat into as much as 10% of the subscriber base currently controlled by incumbents like Time Warner Cable, according to Bernstein. Similarly, 5G is only expected to come into use in 2020 or beyond. But SkyBender is positioning Alphabet for a world in which 60% of the global population will have have access to 4G-LTE networks, according to trade body GSMA. That could put Alphabet and its famous subsidiary Google in an enviable position.
These details are fascinating because they suggest that by taking on the massive technical challenge of combining millimeter-wave technology with drones that can fly for years, Alphabet is serious about building the data infrastructure of the future.
