Project Taara

Project Taara. © X Development LLC.

The Taara project, initiated by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, provides Internet connectivity over light beams. Tested in Kenya, the technology can cover distances of up to 20km and transmit bandwidth of up to 20Gb/s, enough for thousands to watch YouTube videos at the same time. Taara aims to improve affordable high-speed Internet access for sub-Saharan Africa. Similar to fiber-optic cables, Taara’s technology uses light to transmit data, but without the cables, which dramatically cuts infrastructure costs related to deploying fiber, for example over rivers, across national parks, or in post-conflict zones that are riddled with landmines. Taara General Manager, Mahesh Krishnaswamy, noted that Taara links can “offer a cost-effective and quickly deployable way to bring high-speed Internet access to remote areas”. This technology can be put to good use outside of sub-Saharan Africa, much closer to home, like in rural and remote Canada, for example.

⇨ X Development, “Taara.”

⇨ Ars Technica, Jon Brodkin, “Alphabet delivers wireless Internet over light beams from 20km away.”