Irish firm seeks to provide Malaysia with broadband wireless platforms - mounted on Russian military aircraft!

Qucomhaps claims to have raised US$355 million to launch the service above Malaysia using aircraft that will circle the coverage area and provide wireless transmission to end users on behalf of service providers.  It says it will trial the concept in Malaysia next March. 

The company has made waves in the Malaysian media this week with claims that it will set up a national network offering data speeds of 512kbps.  Qucomhaps says it will deploy aircraft "hovering or patrolling" at the stratospheric level – 20 kilometres from the ground – to provide “instantaneous, nationwide broadband connectivity at cost levels significantly lower than anything commercially available today.” 

“HAPS operation includes a network of ground transmission gateways for its backhaul infrastructure. Five single-seater stratospheric aircrafts will perform flight relays, to allow 24x7 broad- band coverage for all of Malaysia (two aircrafts for service the Peninsular (sic), and three for service to Sabah and Sarawak).”

By the way, to the rest of the world the "Peninsular" is a posh hotel in Hong Kong.

HAPS as a concept has a poor track record. The last major advocate of such technologies – Sanswir – effectively went belly-up two years ago after owner GlobeTel was delisted by the American Stock Exchange for perpetrating a stock “pump and dump” programme with an extensive sequence of press release announcements and over-blown promises that were never fulfilled.

Sanswire had promised a global network of airships providing connectivity over markets such as Australia and Colombia but the project progressed no futher than a downmarket demonstration that the company could "launch" one small blimp and get it to a height of 5,000 feet over a US airfield. 

The unlisted Qucomhaps announced it is rasing the cash for the Malaysian launch via a direct equity investment by an unnamed Middle East fund in the sum of $65 million.