Google Loons delivers basic internet service to 100,000 Puerto Ricans

Although Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico around seven months ago, the country is still in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. Most parts of the country are not built and people are facing rain storms and floods with no house to live in. the citizens are not even able to voice out their plights due to the broken network infrastructure. According to the FCC, almost forty four percent of the country’s cell sites are still not working.

How did Google Loons solve this?

Google Loons, one of Alphabet’s many companies has stepped in to try and resolve this problem. They partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile for this task. They made use of their helium balloons to provide LTE coverage to the disaster hit country. The company has now revealed that the Google Loons helped bring internet facilities to up to 100,000 citizens in the country.

Google Loons further adds that this is the fastest implementation of their internet providing balloons. It has taken them less than two weeks to get the balloons in the air. The balloons were launched to air from Nevada and are in the worst hit areas of Puerto Rico. Alastair Westgarth, a project lead on Google Loons had the following to say.

“In times of crisis, being able to communicate with loved ones, emergency services and critical information is key. We hope that the connectivity Project Loon has provided over the last few weeks has been helpful, and would like to thank AT&T, T-Mobile, and our government partners who made these efforts possible,”

He further admitted that the company is not sure how long the balloons can do the task at hand. They are also unsure of how effective it will be, given that this is a new venture for the company too.

However, 100,000 does not seem much when you consider that the island has a population of 3.5 million people. But this will be a lifesaver for at least 100,000 people.