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.

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NAVAL BASE GUAM (Aug. 16, 2023) – The Peruvian Navy Training Tall Ship, B.A.P. Unión (BEV 161) arrived at Apra Harbor, U.S. Naval Base Guam Aug. 16. Unión’s crew and Commanding Officer Capt. Jose Luis Arce was greeted by Joint Region Marianas, Chief-of-Staff Capt. Michael Smith, NBG Commanding Officer Capt. Michael Luckett, and Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero. Unión Sailors manned the rails and stood along the masts of the ship, singing both the U.S. and Peruvian anthems. Cultural dancers and singers from Guma Ma Higa also welcomed the ship with the traditional CHamoru Saina. Unión set sail from her homeport in Callao, Peru in June, beginning their circumnavigation and international training deployment 2023-2024. Before arriving in Guam, the ship was in Tahiti and will sail more than 10 months visiting 20 ports and 14 countries in five continents in total. This is the first circumnavigation of the Unión since its commissioning in 2016 and the second one of the Peruvian Navy since 1856, 167 years ago.
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