PHOENIX, United States—After years of quiet work, Space Data finally officially announced its plan to operate as a carrier’s carrier by using weather balloons to offer wireless services to vast rural areas.
The company said its service will allow wireless paging and cellular carriers to reach previously unserved and underserved areas at a fraction of the cost of building towers or using satellites. Space Data said its service will cover the 20 percent of the U.S. population that currently lives outside current wireless service coverage areas. The company said it plans to expand into other parts of the world.
Space Data’s SkySite Network received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval in September. The company plans to launch commercial service next year. Space Data said patents for its system are pending in the United States and 16 other countries, and that it is now arranging institutional financing to deploy its network.
