Project Loon – from Google – reported this week that they were studying the possibility of deploying their balloons in Puerto Rico with the intention of providing emergency Internet connection after Hurricane Maria hit the island. Finally, the ‘X’ division of Alphabet has received the necessary authorization from the FCC to provide emergency LTE coverage in this area. They have received clearance today, and the deployment of balloons will start soon to connect Puerto Rico to the internet.
It was last Thursday when Project Loon reported that they were negotiating with the authorities of Puerto Rico a way to use their floating globes with Internet connection in an urgent manner. The various natural disasters that have hit the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in recent months have caused problems of connectivity over traditional infrastructures. Google’s Project Loon can establish a sustained air network over land infrastructure key points. In such a way that the connection to the Internet is guaranteed even though part of the terrestrial infrastructure fails or saturates.
Project Loon evolves parallel to this emergency deployment. It is a project of aerial infrastructure of connection to Internet in part by Google, although within its division X which is property of Alphabet. The Mountain View company has the intention to extend the coverage offered by the terrestrial infrastructure with this project. That is, take the Internet to disconnected areas around the world. But this emergency deployment wants to serve as support, and as a guarantee to Puerto Rico. Finally, the FCC’s clearance has been granted, and now it is of essence to find the support of an ISP.
Project Loon requires the support of an ISP to connect the balloons, which in this case serve as a bridge for users. It is a secondary infrastructure, more secure and reliable than the terrestrial one in the case of a natural disaster such as hurricanes. At the moment, the Mountain View company has the permission it needs to carry out the deployment, and now it is only a matter of days in order to close an agreement with any of the Internet service providers that operate in Puerto Rico. Something that they will obviously get in a matter of days or hopefully hours in order to carry out their emergency Internet deployment project.
