Alphabet’s Internet-Beaming Loon Balloons Now Providing Service in Kenya

Alphabet , the parent companionship of Google , has deployed a fleet of net - delivering , high - elevation balloons in Kenya , an first step that the society ’s CEO say will be “ the first of many ” future commercial deployments in other voice of the world .

Loon top dog Alastair Westgarth declare in ablog postthis hebdomad that the 4 yard LTE electronic internet connectivity tools — imposingly gravid , internet - beam balloon that vibrate roughly 20 kilometers ( or about 12 miles ) in the stratosphere — order the task marked the first use of the technology in Africa , as well as the first time Loon had been used for cyberspace connectivity in anon - emergency linguistic context .

diver partnered with telecommunications provider Telkom to deliver internet connectivity to a 50,000 - square - km ( 31,000 - square - mile ) region in rural Kenya , a spokesperson said Tuesday , specifically an area that ’s hilly and harder to provide service in . Around 35 or more of the Loon balloon — which the spokesperson characterize as “ floating electric cell phone towers”—will support internet connections for video , e-mail , texting , browsing , and apps like YouTube and WhatsApp .

Image: Loon

The service rely on ground stations that commit signal to constantly shifting balloons , which deliver connections to part below for those with LTE mobile devices . Westgarth said the company will stay to deploy balloons in the coming weeks , allowing service to “ become more coherent , ” though service can still be affected by things like stratospheric winds , among other factors — the clear downside to the technology .

“ As our balloon , or flight vehicle as we call them , float on stratospheric winds , they put to work together to cater coverage to surface area below , ” Westgarth said . “ calculate on their position , a flight vehicle can alternate between actively serving users , operating as a tributary tie-in in our mesh mesh to beam the net to other vehicles , or repositioning itself to get back to the help region . Still other flight vehicle can be stag nearby ( in stratospheric terms ) , waitress to insert the service neighborhood where they can begin providing connectivity . ”

The Loon balloons were antecedently used to deploy pinch serve in disaster zone , as inPuerto Ricoin the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017 and in Peru last yr following amagnitude 8.0earthquake . They have also , notably , beenrepeatedlymistakenfor unidentified flying object — which , kick in the fact that the balloons resemble massive aeriform man-of-war , make gumption .

Image: Loon