CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Twenty-mile high cellular transmission towers only last a day, but they're giving rural phone users a noticeable lift.

A firm in Chandler has invented a novel way to reach mobile phone users in rural areas lacking reliable reception.

"It's a demographic issue," said Jerry Knoblach, co-founder of Space Data Corporation. "Eighty percent of the people live in 10 percent of the land mass in the U.S."

The economics of tower construction and maintenance make it highly unlikely that towers will ever be built to serve these potential customers, the company said.

"It's a problem that's waiting for a solution," Knoblach said. "This is a good solution."

Space Data Corporation makes a large latex balloon and inflates it with hydrogen. Then workers attach a six-pound box that contains all the equipment of a cell phone tower, miniaturized for a flight into the atmosphere.

They launch the balloon miles into the air and it suddenly becomes an effective cell phone tower.

Workers track all the balloons they launch. They only last a day before parachuting down to the ground.

There's a sticker on them offering a reward for those finding it and returning it to the company.

After one day in the air, the company launches another to replace it.

"We get a 24-hour life out of them." said Jim Wiesenberg of Space Data Corp. "And we make a business out of it."

Currently, only certain industries, like trucking and oil, use the make-shift cell phone towers. The company said it is just launching them across the southern part of the nation.

Company officials said they are hoping a cell phone provider will start using the balloons nationwide in a few years.