3 hydrogen-filled balloons in the stratosphere could provide the coverage of 1,100 cell towers in North Dakota

Why put up costly cell phone towers in thinly populated areas, when a few balloons would do?

In North Dakota, former Gov. Ed Schafer is backing a plan to loft wireless network repeaters on balloons high above the state to fill gaps in cellular coverage.

“I know it sounds crazy,” said Schafer, who now heads Extend America, a wireless telecommunications company. “But it works in the lab.”

Extend America and Space Data are developing the technology, believed to be the first to use disposable balloons to provide cellular coverage.

Full Story: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/business/13752076.htm