BT floats airship idea to help Scottish broadband access

AIRSHIPS could be deployed above Scottish cities in the next 10 years to answer the nation’s broadband access problems, according to BT’s satellite guru.

The phone group is monitoring advances in technology which could see blimps replace or supplement communications satellites by 2013.

The cigar-shaped balloons are more readily associated with the war years, when the US navy used them as cheap radar platforms.

Ian Rose, head of BT’s satellite systems team, said so-called high altitude platforms (HAPs) had a number of advantages over satellites in space.

He said: "One of the advantages is that you could lay down fairly high-capacity networks fairly quickly. And because they can be brought back down easily, you can alter the payload to deal with new technology."

Satellites tend to stay up for 10 to 15 years, by which time their equipment may be out of date. But blimps could be altered to handle advances such as fourth generation phone networks.

Rose said: "Because satellites give broad area coverage, they are likely to continue being used for continents. But HAPs could be used at a regional level. It’s a trade-off between the two different technologies."

The cost of launching an airship could be a fraction of that of launching a satellite system into space, communications experts believe.

BT already uses satellites to provide broadband phone services to thinly populated areas of the UK such as the Highlands and Islands.

A number of companies are working on telecommunications balloons, including Sky Station International, which is backed by General Alexander Haig, the former US secretary of state.

SSI hopes to set up 250 balloons at an altitude of 13 miles above the world’s largest metropolitan areas.

The Washington DC-based company is expected to announce a launch site for a test flight of its balloon system later this month. Possible locations include Australia, Ghana, Panama, South Korea, Turkey and the south-western US.

Another US company, Angel Technologies, plans to use high altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft to provide communication links.

But airship technology is relatively untried, which could make it difficult to sell to phone companies which have already invested huge amounts in mobile phone networks.

Rose said: "My feeling is that these airship platforms are going to have to prove themselves to telecoms providers."

Another potential problem is that airships could be more vulnerable to attack or accidental damage than space satellites. Routine maintenance could also be much higher.