Possible SW Radio Solution to Worldwide Web Access
/For the past four years, KNL Networks, based in Oulu, Finland, have been developing a revolutionizing system that enables internet connection anywhere in the world – even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – without using expensive satellite systems.
The group have secured more than $10m of A round funding, enabling the group to progress with the project.
Facebook and Google have been exploring the possibility of bringing internet to remote locations by relaying data through a network of balloons. KNL's technology, on the other hand, proposes the opposite: incredibly long range signals, by sending internet protocol over the radio.
KNL’s technology is already being used to provide robust internet connections to ships on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but can be used anywhere on the globe for many different applications. Amongst others, the company sees a future in the development of the Internet of Things and autonomous vessels, as the internet anywhere technology will enable live-streaming of data from the most extreme locations.
Such capabilities are currently only possible with satellite networks, which are very expensive to operate. Instead, KNL’s technology relies on shortwave radio transmissions, which can transmit data for thousands of kilometers, for a fraction of the cost of a satellite system. Accomplishing this has required the innovation of long-distance high frequency radio systems. In comparison with satellite internet, the radio technology offers the additional advantages of being easier to use, always on.
