India is the country with slow average Internet speed and it even ranks lower than many small countries. Even if Reliance Jio has made available the mobile data to masses, high speed Internet connection is still a dream for many. So, Indian government is testing a new technology that will help in connecting difficult terrains of the country where reaching by fiber is not possible for now.
Education and Research Network (ERNET), an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of electronics and IT, has successfully tested a new technology called LiFi (Light Fidelity) for high speed Internet. This technology can transmit data as high as 10 GB per second over a 1-km radius using LED bulbs and light spectrum.
As the technology uses LED bulbs and light spectrums, it only requires electricity. So, it is easier to use LiFi in place of fiber in many difficult terrains of the country.
Government conducted the pilot project at Indian Institute of Technology Madras campus in a closed environment with lighting company Philips a few months back. It was a done in a closed environment, but now they are ready for open stage testing at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
This is not the first time when the Indian government has testing alternative technologies. They also tested WhiteSpace that uses unused spectrum between television channels to relay data. Google started testing the tech in India using Google’s Loon project that also required licensed mobile spectrum. So the project was opposed by the telecom lobby.
The LiFi is not dependent on any such mobile spectrum and has no major challenges. The only challenge is that light cannot penetrate hard objects, so it requires a clear line of sight. But it can be solved by using a mesh of lights to insure the uninterrupted signals.
Everything is still testing phase and it will take few more months to figure out if this tech can be rolled out for consumers across the country. Not just in difficult area, it can also be used in other cities to make Internet available easily in low cost. It will make the internet of things for modern city easy just by using connected LED bulbs.
What do you think about this? Let us know your views in the comments below.
Source: ET
