VOA慢速英語：谷歌公司報告谷歌氣球上網計劃最新進展

Google Reports Progress in Bringing Internet Service to Rural Areas

谷歌公司報告谷歌氣球上網計劃最新進展

The owner of technology company Google has reported progress in its plan to offer Internet service to rural areas around the world.

谷歌科技公司的所有者報告了該公司向世界各地農村地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網計劃的進展。

Google's parent company, Alphabet, calls the plan "Project Loon." Its goal is to increase access to the billions of people currently without internet connectivity.

谷歌公司的母公司Alphabet稱之為谷歌氣球計劃(Project Loon)，其目標是提高目前沒有互聯(lián)網連接的數(shù)十億人的互聯(lián)網接入。

Alphabet has no plans to use traditional wiring, which can be costly. Instead the idea is to float huge balloons about 20 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.

Alphabet公司沒有計劃使用可能會很昂貴的傳統(tǒng)線纜，而是在地球上空20公里左右漂浮巨大的氣球。

The balloons would act like telecommunications satellites, providing internet service to the rural areas. The huge objects would ride air currents to either stay in place or move to another position high in the skies.

這些氣球就像通信衛(wèi)星一樣，為農村地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網服務。這種巨大的氣球將會隨著氣流停留在原地或是漂浮到另一個高空位置。

At first, the idea was to have a large number of balloons circling the planet. One balloon would move away from an area while another arrived to guarantee service in the affected areas.

最初的想法是利用大量氣球在地球環(huán)繞。某個氣球可能會從某個地區(qū)飄走，而另一個氣球飄過來以保證受影響地區(qū)的互聯(lián)網服務。

But Alphabet announced it has found a way to make balloons float over one area for an extended period.

但是Alphabet公司聲稱找到了一種辦法，可以讓氣球在某個區(qū)域漂浮很長一段時間。

In a statement released online, the company said its software "can now send small teams of balloons to form a cluster over a specific region where people need internet access. This is a shift from our original model...in which we planned to create rings of balloons sailing around the globe, and balloons would take turns moving through a region to provide service."

該公司在網上發(fā)布的一份聲明中表示，其軟件“可以升空少數(shù)氣球，在人們需要互聯(lián)網接入的某個特定區(qū)域形成一個集群。這是從我們原有模式的一種轉變，我們原來計劃用氣球形成一個環(huán)繞地球漂流的氣球圓環(huán)，這些氣球將會輪流飄過某個地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網服務。”

The company said the discovery was made during tests of balloons launched from the island of Puerto Rico to float in Peruvian airspace. The company said some of the balloons stayed in the same area for as long as three months.

該公司表示，從波多黎各島升空氣球漂流到秘魯領空進行測試時有了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。該公司表示，一些氣球在同一地區(qū)停留了長達三個月時間。

The company said the discovery should speed up the project and reduce costs: "We'll reduce the number of balloons we need and get greater value out of each one."

該公司稱這一發(fā)現(xiàn)將會加快該項目的進度并降低成本：“我們將會減少所需的氣球數(shù)量，并從每個氣球中獲得更大價值。”

But Project Loon workers must still find ways to increase the life of the balloons. A British Broadcasting Corporation report says the longest service for a single balloon was 190 days.

但是谷歌氣球計劃的員工們仍然必須找到提高氣球壽命的辦法。英國廣播公司報道稱，單個氣球的最長壽命為190天。

Google has also explored the idea of providing internet service to rural areas using solar-powered drone aircraft. But it cancelled that project because of technological barriers and high costs.

谷歌公司還探索了使用太陽能無人機為農村地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網服務的想法。但是由于技術壁壘和高成本，該公司已經取消了該項目。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

我是布萊恩·林恩。