Google's magic Inteet balloons bringing Wi-Fi to India - CNET

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Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his hopes of connecting India dashed when Free Basics, a plan offering free access to selected websites and apps, was banned by the country's regulators. Now, Google is stepping up to the plate to connect rural India.

Rajan Anandan, Google's managing director for India, told the Economic Times that Google has been in talks with telecommunication firms to collaborate on Project Loon, which sees high-altitude balloons beam speedy Wi-Fi down to remote areas in developing countries.

"The actual provisioning of the service is done by a local telco. So, we're talking to a number of local telcos," Anandan told the publication. "We can't do a Loon pilot without partnering with a local telco."

He described the project as "infrastructure in the sky," and added, "the govement has been very supportive." Google has been contacted for further comment.

India is the world's second largest country, but around 68 percent of its population -- 880 million people -- live in rural conditions or poverty. Facebook hoped to help those in remote areas with its Free Basics scheme, but it was banned last month due to violating the tenants of Net Neutrality, the idea that all Inteet sites should be made equally available by service providers.