Project Loon Brings Limited LTE Service To Puerto Rico

Alphabet, Google‘s parent company is flying internet balloons (Project Loon) in Puerto Rico. This will connect thousands of Puerto Ricans impacted by Hurricane Maria in September.

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Project Loon Brings Limited Internet

The balloons launched in Nevada are floating above the hardest hit parts of the island, apparently replacing ground infrastructure which was destroyed by the storm. The balloon will provide limited internet access, which will allow basic activities like sending texts or accessing information online.

Alphabet has partnered with AT&T, the government of Puerto Rico, the United States government’s Federal Communications Commission, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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This is the second time Loon has been tested during a disaster relief effort. Last year, Alphabet has sent balloons to flooded zones in Peru. Loon was developed at X (formerly called Google X). The idea of these balloons is to fly in the stratosphere above rural areas and beam wireless signals to people.

Alistair Westgarth, Head of Project Loon (wrote in a blog post);

Project Loon is still an experimental technology and we’re not quite sure how well it will work. But we hope it helps get people the information and communication they need to get through this unimaginably difficult time.

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