Backed by Deutsche Telekom, Stratospheric Platforms (SPL), based in Cambridge, England, has proposed a high-altitude platform (HAP) to the government, which will provide complete coverage of Scotland with a small fleet of aircraft operating from Prestwick. The coverage capability is particularly well suited to the challenging terrain of Scotland according to SPL.
Known as Stratomast HAP, the system uses hydrogen-powered aircraft to provide uninterrupted 5G connectivity direct to consumer smartphones across areas as wide as 87 miles and, at the same time, fixed wireless access to premises. With a fleet of 21 aircraft, the HAP acts as a network of masts in the sky, each capable of covering up to 9,320 square miles. The aircraft and payload are powered by a zero-emissions hydrogen power system. Eight offshore wind turbines are required to generate the power needed to produce Hydrogen from seawater.
The Stratomast system provides remote and rural regions with a mobile communications service, which only requires standard mobile phones, and fixed wireless for home broadband services. The system does not require additional fiber optic infrastructure or towers on the ground. Furthermore, rural businesses, such as farming, can increase their efficiency by being able to use IoT devices anywhere and access big data. Tourism benefits from high speed connectivity and fishermen can access the mobile phone voice and high speed data coverage at sea, according to SPL.
Data rates provided by the Stratomast HAP are significantly higher than anything that can be provided by satellites and need no satellite ground station as essentially this is just a telecoms mast in the sky, according to SPL. Operating from an airfield located in Scotland, such as Prestwick, the company aims to provide coverage beyond Scotland in the future to include the U.K. and large parts of northern Europe.
Stratomast is another in a series of attempts to provide cellular coverage from a drone or a balloon. One high profile project, Loon, was canceled by Google in January of this year because it could not work out the business model, according to Data Center Dynamics.
“For years, high altitude drones, balloons, and airships have been stuck in the R&D phase,” the publication reads. “Their fleets of autonomous platforms, offering cell tower-like connectivity without the costs, are always about to deliver, but always just around the corner. Now, while the technology to ensure these platforms can fly and relay signals is getting closer, questions still remain about whether they will ever have a viable business model.”
Another example of the difficulty of this space is Facebook’s attempt to use HAP to provide free internet to unserved areas. It developed Aquila, a fixed-wing solar-powered drone with the whopping wingspan of a Boeing 737. Two flights, a crash and one NTSB investigation later, the project was shelved in 2018.
But, on the plus side, drone technology has advanced rapidly in recent years and SPL is accessing new hydrogen fuel technology. Not to mention the wingspan is only 196 feet. Maybe it will fly.
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