Alphabet’s Loon division began providing broadband service via balloon to subscribers of Telkom Kenya.
The service footprint spans nearly 50,000 square kilometers across western and central parts of Kenya, including the areas of Iten, Eldoret, Baringo, Nakuru, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Bomet, Kericho, and Narok.
Loon is using a fleet of around 35 or more separate balloons circulating in the stratosphere. The company is aiming to add balloons over eastern Africa in the coming weeks.
Loon reports uplink speed of 4.74Mpbs, downlink speed of 18.9Mbps, and latency of 19 milliseconds (ms) during field testing in late-June. This was sufficient for applications such as voice calls, video calls, YouTube, WhatsApp, email, texting, web browsing, etc.
Google’s Loon balloons working with AT&T
Google’s Loon balloon initiative, which has undergone limited field deployments in Puerto Rico and Peru, is working with AT&T and its global partners to extend its reach to new markets.
Specifically, Loon is looking to leverage the AT&T network to expands the number of operators around the world that Loon can work with without having to complete time-intensive network integration for each one. The collaboration is expected to save valuable time if the event that Loon broadband coverage is needed for disaster response.
Loon also disclosed that it has recently secured approvals to fly over additional countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Malawi, and Lesotho. Loon now has approvals to fly ove a total of 50 countries.
Google Loon to fly over the Peruvian Amazon
Peru is likely to be the first country in Latin America in which the “Loon” Internet-via-balloon service will operate
Specifically, Loon and Internet para Todos Perú (IpT) have reached an agreement to use high-altitude balloons to expand mobile internet access to parts of the Peruvian Amazonia. The companies aim to provide service to Telefónica customers in Peru in 2020.
Loon, which is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, uses a network of high altitude balloons operating 20 km above sea level, well above air traffic, wildlife and weather events. Loon provides a full network as a service. The balloons act as floating cell towers, transmitting a provider’s service directly to a subscriber’s 4G/LTE device below.
