Aerial ISPs: strato-blimp wireless providers
These high-tech blimps could carry up to 4,000 pounds of telecommunications gear and float it up to 13 miles into the stratosphere. At that height, far above any conventional commercial air traffic or turbulent weather patterns, the Stratellite would act as a wireless communications hub to provide wireless voice and data services for an area of up to 300,000 square miles. "It's perfect for outlying areas that can't get broadband telephone or cable [TV] access," says Sanswire CEO Michael K. Molen. "[Subscribers] just put up a small antenna and they're in business." [Smart Mobs]