A Chinese aerospace supplier is following the lead of American search engine company Google by preparing to test a WiFi transmission system that relies on high-altitude balloons to reach remote areas.Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi Science Ltd. plans to test the balloons in the skies above New Zealand before July, some two years after Google’s Project Loon sent 30 balloons sailing into the stratosphere over that country as part of a WiFi service experiment.Kuang-Chi has already stationed a team in New Zealand to prepare for the launch of the Traveler balloon, said Xu Yuqin, a company manager.Kuang-Chi’s helium balloon is 40 meters in diameter, and will float up to 100 kilometers above sea level, above the flight routes used by commercial airlines.It will relay WiFi signals to mobile phones and computers, circumventing standard, ground-based wireless services offered by telecom companies.Kuang-Chi is also developing a balloon network for providing Internet services to support mining, disaster relief and forest protection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Xu said the company is discussing similar potential agreements with the governments of Uzbekistan and South Africa.For Caixin Online, this is Roma Eisenstark
