Could a Blimp Improve Communications?

Bob Jones, president of Sanswire Networks, holds a fin made of carbon composite Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2006, in Palmdale, Calif., that'll be used to stabilize and enable the high altitude airship to change direction. Makers of such dirigibles say they're a cheaper wireless alternative, but some telecommunications experts wonder whether investors will bite. (AP Photo/Ric Francis) (Ric Francis - AP)

That limited market may not be enough for dirigible makers to survive, said Robert Rosenberg, president of Insight Research Corp., a New Jersey-based telecommunications market research company.

"It's an example of a technology that's looking for a market," he said.

Jones believes his solar-powered, helium-filled Stratellites _ so named because they would hang in the stratosphere _ could replace unsightly cell towers and cost less than satellites. Because of the airship's altitude according to Jones, its radio equipment can cover an area the size of Texas.

Cell towers are hampered by line-of-sight limitations and limited range. Geostationary satellites suffer from the quarter-second it takes a signal to travel out 22,300 miles and back _ insignificant in one-way TV transmissions, but terrible for two-way Internet computer communications.

Jones said his floating platforms will carry radio equipment that uses both licensed and unlicensed airwaves. The company will license spectrum if required and also work with companies that already have licenses, he said.

While Jones dreams of covering whole states with wireless services, Arizona-based Space Data thinks it can fill a cellular void by floating weather balloons in the stratosphere that would bring coverage to remote regions.

Space Data plans to test fly a balloon next month over a remote part of North Dakota to demonstrate the technology. The company, which is negotiating with several unidentified cell phone providers, could launch its first commercial balloon as early as next year over west Texas.

"Someday, you can just get a plan from your cell phone provider and you won't even know if you're on the balloon or if you're on the tower," said Chief Executive Jerry Knoblach. "You'll just talk but you'll have coverage even from the bottom of the Grand Canyon."

But questions abound about the durability of dirigibles. No vehicle has ever stayed in the stratosphere _ located above the jet stream where clouds rarely form and where temperatures hover around freezing _ for months at a time. It's unclear how the environment would affect a dirigible.

At Sanswire's guarded hangar, the 125-foot-long prototype named Sanswire 2 is held down by orange sandbags and cordoned off with yellow tape. About 10 employees scurried around to put the finishing touches on the airship before its maiden flight.

Jones' prototype weighs just 750 pounds and contains five separate helium chambers in case one leaks. It is made of tough carbon composite material that gives it a rigid structure like the zeppelins of the early 20th century.

Jones recently returned from a trip to Colombia, saying he spoke with government officials about the potential of deploying Stratellites in the Andes nation.

Other countries also expressed interest, but no contracts have been signed.

Some telecommunication analysts contend builders of high-altitude airships and blimps face a double whammy: The wireless market is already saturated and the technology is relatively new and unproven.

"More power to the entrepreneurs who are doing this," said Steven Titch, a telecommunications expert at the Heartland Institute in Chicago. "But it's a question of convincing venture capitalists that you can make it work."

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