Adarsh is investigating Bharti Airtel’s recent announcement that it is working with Google’s parent company Alphabet to bring high-speed internet to remote areas of India.
India is a country with a significant digital divide. While many people in urban areas have access to high-speed internet, millions in rural areas do not.
This digital divide can have a significant impact on people’s lives, limiting their access to education, healthcare and other essential services.
India’s digital divide
The digital divide in India is a big problem. According to a 2021 World Bank report, only 35% of people in rural India have access to the internet. This means that millions of people are unable to participate in the digital economy and take advantage of the many benefits that the internet offers.
Laser-based internet technology as a solution
If you ask the folks at Airtel, laser-based internet technology could be a solution to India’s digital divide. This technology is relatively easy to implement and can be used to provide Internet access in areas not currently served by traditional fiber optic cables. This could help bridge the digital divide and improve the lives of millions.
Laser-based Internet technology uses beams of light to transmit data over long distances. This technology is similar to fiber optic cabling, but does not require the installation of new infrastructure. Instead, laser-based Internet technologies can be used to transmit data over existing infrastructure such as power lines or cell towers.
Airtel’s partnership with Google
The latest laser-based technology was developed at Alphabet’s California innovation laboratory X, also nicknamed the “Moonshot Factory”. Internally, the project is known as Taara. There are plans to introduce wireless optical communications technology capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 20Gbps in rural India.
Mahesh Krishnaswamy, General Manager of Project Taara at This rollout follows a series of pilot projects with Airtel and is Taara’s largest deployment in India to date.”
Known as Taara, the project is part of Alphabet’s innovation lab called X. (Image credit: ET Government)The benefits and implications of laser-based internet technology
Using laser-based internet technology to provide internet access in rural areas offers several advantages. First, laser-based internet technology can transmit data over long distances, meaning it can be used to bring the internet to areas not currently served by traditional fiber optic cables. Second, laser-based internet technology is relatively easy to implement, meaning it can be deployed faster and less expensively than traditional fiber optic cables.
The impact of laser-based internet technology could be significant. It could help bridge the digital divide in India and improve the lives of millions. For example, people in rural areas could gain access to online education and health services, which could improve their quality of life. You could also connect with friends and family online, which could help reduce isolation.
The future of laser-based internet technology
Laser-based internet technology is still in its infancy but has the potential to revolutionize the way we access the internet. This technology could be used to bring high-speed internet access to people around the world, regardless of their location. This could have a significant impact on the lives of millions of people and help bridge the digital divide.
The last word
Google and Airtel’s laser-based internet technology is a promising new technology that could help bridge the digital divide in India. This technology has the potential to improve the lives of millions and make India a more connected country.
What do you think of this new technology? Is this the solution to the current lack of internet connectivity in different parts of India? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
In case you missed it:
