Project Loon possibly delivering Wi-Fi to Puerto Rico.

[zaesho]

Original article from The Verge : https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/29/16388104/alphabet-x-project-loon-puerto-rico-air-balloon-internet-connectivity

From recently listening to the news and reading about the current crisis in Puerto Rico (hurricane/typhoon) , I honestly believe that this is a good move for Google and Alphabet, imo I think this will help relieve stress throughout the island since there is a massive communication issue over there. 

[Nicnac]

Interesting project! You might wanna check your formatting though to comply with forum rules @Virtual_Gian.

 

 

Just add a summary, quote from the article (and maybe a picture?)

[AresKrieger]

Well wifi is rather pointless imo if you don't have any power

[zaesho]

2 hours ago, Nicnac said:

Interesting project! You might wanna check your formatting though to comply with forum rules @Virtual_Gian.

 

 

Just add a summary, quote from the article (and maybe a picture?)

 

thanks! forgot to read, but ill get to that now....

 

2 hours ago, AresKrieger said:

Well wifi is rather pointless imo if you don't have any power

suprisingly some people do have power plants and such, and there is a convention center providing power and such.

[WMGroomAK]

It would be a good use case for deployment, however, I don't yet see any of the Project Loon balloons being shown in the airspace around Puerto Rico.  The closest one that shows up on Flight Radar 24 is located about 300 km to the east over the Atlantic Ocean as HBAL 194.

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/HBAL194/f0ced02

[zaesho]

3 hours ago, WMGroomAK said:

It would be a good use case for deployment, however, I don't yet see any of the Project Loon balloons being shown in the airspace around Puerto Rico.  The closest one that shows up on Flight Radar 24 is located about 300 km to the east over the Atlantic Ocean as HBAL 194.

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/HBAL194/f0ced02

Havent seen that, thanks for the info, although "it might be nice" to have it there.

[WMGroomAK]

On 9/30/2017 at 12:49 PM, Virtual_Gian said:

Havent seen that, thanks for the info, although "it might be nice" to have it there.

So just as an update to this...  Project Loon has apparently gotten the okay from the FCC and is beginning to deploy balloons to Puerto Rico.  

 

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/alphabets-internet-balloons-will-try-to-restore-cell-service-in-puerto-rico/

Quote

The Alphabet division that's building a balloon-powered Internet service has obtained an experimental license "to help provide emergency cellular service in Puerto Rico," the Federal Communications Commission announced Saturday. But it's not clear when—or if—the company will be able to provide service to the hurricane-damaged island, as the FCC license is just one step in the process.

...

Alphabet hasn't announced a schedule for providing service in Puerto Rico, and the company says it is still determining whether it will be able to help.

"We’re grateful for the support of the FCC and the Puerto Rican authorities as we work hard to see if it’s possible to use Loon balloons to bring emergency connectivity to the island during this time of need," an Alphabet spokesperson told Ars today.

Project Loon must be integrated with the network of a cellular company in order to provide service, and Alphabet is “making solid progress on this next step," the spokesperson said. Project Loon is part of Alphabet's X division, formerly known as "Google X."

Pai urged carriers to work with Alphabet on the project. "[Project Loon] could help provide the people of Puerto Rico with access to cellular service to connect with loved ones and access life-saving information," Pai said. "I'm glad the FCC was able to grant this experimental license with dispatch and I urge wireless carriers to cooperate with Project Loon to maximize this effort's chances of success."

Not sure how fast they will be able to integrate into the network, but they appear to have at two balloons floating into station on the island (HBAL 017 & 194) with another three on route (HBAL 031, 029 & 192), at least if I'm reading the Flight Radar 24 site correctly...  

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/18.57,-65.05/7

[zaesho]

On 10/9/2017 at 1:20 PM, WMGroomAK said:

So just as an update to this...  Project Loon has apparently gotten the okay from the FCC and is beginning to deploy balloons to Puerto Rico.  

 

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/alphabets-internet-balloons-will-try-to-restore-cell-service-in-puerto-rico/

Not sure how fast they will be able to integrate into the network, but they appear to have at two balloons floating into station on the island (HBAL 017 & 194) with another three on route (HBAL 031, 029 & 192), at least if I'm reading the Flight Radar 24 site correctly...  

 

https://www.flightradar24.com/18.57,-65.05/7

Very nice thanks for the update!