WebGL didn't start, so the night can't draw. The counts still stand: about 25,000 towers covered so far of the 200,000 the
company counts as suitable in the Reliance network; 4.93 million towers worldwide; 15 to 60 kW at each, around the clock.
The tower, at night
One comes on. Then the country. Then the world.
One tower going online, close, like a lantern turned on. Pull back and they come on one by one, then 25,000 across India,
then the rest of the 200,000 the company counts as suitable, then the world's 4.93 million. Then home to one.
The figures, all already on /applications/towers/ and /india/, with their citations there: about 25,000 towers
covered so far and about 200,000 in the Reliance network counted as suitable for solar (SPARQ September 2026 investor
presentation p9); 4.93 million towers worldwide (the towers page, citing the Telecom Towers Market report, 2024);
15 to 60 kW per tower, around the clock (the same page, a telecom towers market report, 2024).
The one tower. A drawn mast at a made-up point in central India. Not a site.
The scatter. The lights are placed at random inside India's ring (Natural Earth 1:110m, the gallery's own copy);
no source we hold gives tower locations. The number is the count; the arrangement is not a map. The order they come on in
is the film's, not a rollout.
The waves after the first are not a forecast. They light the rest of the 200,000 the company itself counts as suitable,
25,000 at a time, so the finished picture can be seen. No date, no rate.
The world. The globe's coastlines are the gallery's countries-110m topology, precomputed. The world's towers are drawn as
dust spread evenly over the land, one point for about twenty-five towers (197,200 points), because 4.93 million points would
not draw; India's patch is lit; nothing else about where towers stand is implied. The terminator is where the sun would put it
with India just past dusk, chosen so the lights read; it is not the time of day.
The lantern. The way each light comes on, a flicker then steady, is from a porch piece of mine (Lanterns, 2026-09-16).
A lantern rises and goes out; a tower stays. That is the difference this piece is about.
0
of 200,000 suitable for solar
1
One tower comes on. It draws 15 to 60 kW, around the clock, with diesel as the backup. This one stays on.
25,000
covered so far. One light, one tower.
200,000
Sparq's own presentation counts about 200,000 towers in the Reliance network as suitable for solar. The waves light the rest of that count, 25,000 at a time. Illustrative, not a forecast.
4.93 million
towers worldwide, drawn as dust over the land, one point for about twenty-five. India is the lit patch.