According to Mehr news agency, the ‘Internet balloons’ come in two varieties: low-altitude tethered balloons and high-altitude untethered balloons.
As Haddadpour explained, the tethered balloons will be deployed in case of an emergency, in crowded areas or in other situations where it is impossible to establish a ground-based communications center.
#اخبار اتمام ساخت بالن فضایی/ استفاده از اینترنت بالنی در مواقع بحران https://t.co/vOynlow8Wv pic.twitter.com/IOyESgAXfx
— هم رسان (@HAMRESAN) 25 февраля 2017 г.
Such balloons can be rapidly launched in the air and retrieved just as quickly, providing Iranian authorities with the means to swiftly establish Internet communications wherever they require at a moment’s notice.
Haddadpour also added that the tethered balloons are deployed at an altitude of about 200-300 meters while their high-altitude counterparts soar in the stratosphere.
"These balloons can provide Internet access to an area of about 20 to 30 kilometers in diameter," he said.
The new balloons have already been tested during Arbaeen – a Shia Muslim religious observance commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
It should be noted that a similar program aimed at providing Internet access to rural and remote areas around the world, Project Loon, was launched by Google several years ago. The technology was first tested during trial runs in California's Central Valley, and was officially announced as a Google project in 2013, followed by a pilot experiment in New Zealand.
