Connectivity

Alphabet to Use Balloons to Reconnect Puerto Rico

By Photo of Kendall Russell
Alphabet's Project Loon stratospheric balloon. Photo: Alphabet.
Alphabet's Project Loon stratospheric balloon. Photo: Alphabet.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted Google parent company Alphabet an experimental license to deploy a new balloon-based connectivity service in Puerto Rico. Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico’s already dilapidated infrastructure, telecommunications providers on the island continue to struggle with a lack of power and working telephone lines. Alphabet intends to use its Project Loon balloons to help restore cell reception for civilians.

Read more at the LA Times Full story arrow

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