Alphabet project uses light beams to bring broadband to remote regions

An Alphabet X innovation lab project has been working on a high-speed wireless optical communications network that uses beams of light instead of cables or radio waves, and folks in Kenya will be the first to benefit from the fruits of these labors.
 
I'm writing this article on a laptop connected to high-speed fiber broadband, but only recently I was reminded how fortunate I am when a friend in France complained of only ever getting near dial-up connection speeds at best, thanks to living in a poorly served rural location. And, according to the GSMA's State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2020 report, some 4 billion people around the globe can't get online at all.
 
Project Taara, a part of Alphabet's X moonshot factory, has been working on a wireless optical technology that could deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity to remote areas using a network of light emitters and receivers. The initiative has now partnered with the Econet Group to install its technology in Sub-Saharan Africa, starting with Kenya.
 
Rather than rely on cables to carry data, which can prove challenging or costly to roll out in the region, Project Taara will send information at up to 20 Gbps using a narrow, invisible beam of light. The beam is transmitted between Taara terminals to create a network of line-of-sight data links, with up to 20 km (12 mi) between two links possible.

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