Google-owned balloon internet company Project Loon has announced the installation of a new set of ground stations in Nyeri, it’s the third town after Nairobi and Nakuru, in Kenya.
Project Loon, a balloon-powered Internet firm run by Google has announced the installation of a new set of ground stations in Nyeri, it’s the third town after Nairobi and Nakuru in a move aimed at seeing it deploy the service commercially in Kenya in collaboration with Telkom Kenya.
With the installation, Loon aims to kick off testing of the stratospheric balloons in a few months. Ground stations are strategically located to support balloon access to an Internet connection. They are located in places that already have access to the Internet and data services.
Project Loon works by beaming an Internet signal from these ground stations to a balloon 20km overhead. That signal can then travel across multiple balloons and long distances, allowing Loon to provide service far from where the ground station is located. In this way, Loon can reach underserved areas that have little or no connectivity.
Loon will extend 4G/LTE coverage to rural and suburban areas with lower population densities. The balloons act as floating cell towers, transmitting a provider’s service – in this case, Telkom’s service – directly to a subscriber’s existing 4G/LTE phone below.
Project Loon’s equipment is powered by onboard solar panels, eliminating reliance on power infrastructure that is often lacking in rural or remote areas. The lack of such power infrastructure can be an impediment to setting up ground-based towers in such areas.
Project Loon and Telkom are working to enable more Kenyans to access the Internet via their mobile phones. With this new technology, Kenya will be a pioneer in extending the Internet to people who are not able to get reliable connections.
The project has also worked closely with various Kenyan governmental bodies to secure all necessary approvals to begin testing and operating this year.
