Blimp to bring broadband to rural areas

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a ... broadband blimp? A company founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has begun constructing a new research and development center in Fremont where it will test an industrial version of a blimp known as an aerostat that’s designed to provide wireless broadband coverage in rural and remote areas.Altaeros Energies of Somerville, Mass., has been given town approval to create the permanent test site near a gravel operation at 662 Main St. that will feature a concrete launch pad and a large hangar to house the aerostat.
The aerostat will essentially be a tethered aerial cell tower that provides the same coverage as a network of cell towers. The company said it could eliminate the need for 20 to 30 conventional towers and reduce total network costs by 50 to 70 percent.