Google X to set up Development Centre in Visakhapatnam

New Delhi: Google Alphabet Inc’s X will set up its Development Centre in Visakhapatnam. An MoU over this was signed between Government of Andhra Pradesh and Google X in San Francisco.

Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh and Google X CEO Astro Teller were present during the signing of the MoU.

Alphabet X research division has said that Andhra Pradesh government would buy its newly developed technology that has the potential to provide high-speed wireless internet to millions of people without laying cable.

The Team at X has tweeted:

Andhra Pradesh’s @naralokesh and X’s @astroteller today confirmed that @AP_EDB will use X’s FSOC links to help bring fast, reliable internet access to more people across the state. #InternetAccess pic.twitter.com/jQOgxl432w — The Team at X (@Theteamatx) December 14, 2017

The agreement involves insltallation of 2,000 boxes as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart on posts and roofs to bring a fast internet connection to populated areas. The idea is to create a new backbone to supply service to cellphone towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, endpoints that users would then access.

The agreement is an outgrowth of X’s Project Loon, which on several occasions has beamed cellphone service to Earth from a network of large balloons. The balloons link directly to smartphones but are meant for rural areas with a low population density, according to X.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the company.

X plans to deploy free space optical technology, which transmits data through light beams at up to 20 gigabits per second between the rooftop boxes. There would be enough bandwidth for thousands of people to browse the Web simultaneously through the same cellphone tower, the company said.

It will have a small team based in Andhra Pradesh next year to help roll out the technology.

With Agency Inputs