Skip to main content

Google to deploy Project Loon balloons to Puerto Rico to restore cell service

Wired has reported that the Federal Communications Commission has given Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. clearance to deploy its Project Loon balloons over Puerto Rico. The company is hopeful that the balloons will be able to restore telecommunications service to the hurricane-ravaged island.

The decision was announced in a series of tweets by Matthew Berry, who serves as Chief of Staff to FCC chairman Ajit Pai.

Recommended Videos

Alphabet has already successfully deployed its Project Loon balloons over Peru, where they were able to provide LTE coverage following the country’s recent flood. The balloons were able to rely on a telecom provider that beamed its signal to the balloons. The company will be working from scratch in Puerto Rico, but the hope is that the balloons will be able to help restore cell service, including LTE data, to the island’s inhabitants.

The balloons will act as replacements for the island’s destroyed cell towers, but they can only transmit the data. It is unclear if the island’s telecommunications industry currently has the means to assist Alphabet, but the industry is willing to try. In its FCC application, Alphabet included letters and emails from eight of the island’s carriers, in which they gave consent for Google to access their frequencies and data.

Thirty Loon balloons will be deployed 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) above the planet’s service. Each balloon will be able to service a radius of 1,930 square miles, so Alphabet is expecting that it will be able to provide service to the entire island of Puerto Rico, along with parts of the Virgin Islands.

Alphabet has not said when the deployment would begin, but a spokesperson told Wired that “we sorting through a lot of possible options now and are grateful for the support we’re getting on the ground.”

Alphabet isn’t the only tech company coming to the aid of Puerto Rico. The island’s governor has requested that Tesla CEO Elon Musk help restore the island’s electrical grid. The company has already deployed hundreds of power wall batteries to the island.

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: the upgrade we’ve been waiting for?
Thre Flip 7 models next to each other

I never really thought that I'd want to go down the route of owning a flip phone, ever since I swore off my Nokia in the early 2000s (you know, the one with the weird felt covering and tiny notification window).

Fast forward two decades, and I'm considering rejoining the race, thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. Coming in at $1,100, it's not cheap, but it's definitely something different compared to the world of black rectangles, and it it feels like Samsung’s Flip family has finally come of age.

Read more
I used the Galaxy Z Fold 7, here’s why I’m completely smitten
The back of the Galaxy Z Fold 7

We’ve waited several years for Samsung to join the party, but it’s finally here: Samsung has followed rivals like Oppo, OnePlus, and Honor in building a thinner, lighter, and sleeker Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s an impressive feat of engineering and a major upgrade over previous years.

It’s easy to consider the Fold 7 nothing more than an update to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but in many ways, it feels like a huge step forward, not just for Samsung but for all folding phones. I spent a few hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in an exclusive preview, and here’s why I absolutely love what Samsung has done this year.

Read more
I tried the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series – they’re sleek, but with a lot to prove
Watch 8 on a wrist

Trying out the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic is a tough gig - not in terms of it being a hardship to try out two high-end models, but that it's impossible to assess them with only 30 minutes’ use.

I can easily talk about the improved design and the fit of the straps etc, but the real changes are within the health ecosystem, and they'll need sustained testing to really understand if they're any good.

Read more