Skip to main content

Google's parent company is flying balloons with 'floating cell phone towers' across the ocean to bring internet to Kenya's Rift Valley

* Loon just launched balloon-powered internet in Kenya, in partnership with Telkom Kenya. * Loon is part of Alphabet, Google's parent company. * The high-altitude balloons act as "floating cell phone towers." * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Project Loon started as one of Alphabet's moonshot projects, and now its providing internet service in Kenya.  The company makes solar powered balloons that fly high up in the stratosphere and send internet access down to earth. These mobile, floating stations are more flexible than typical cell stations, as they're constantly moving. They also have much wider coverage areas; as much as a hundred times that of a cell tower. Right now, Loon stations are mostly used after disasters take out existing infrastructure, or in places where cell towers and connections are otherwise difficult, but Loon has much bigger plans. CEO Alastair Westgarth said " Loon is well positioned to play this role and serve as the operating system for the global connectivity ecosystem of the future." He hopes to create a global third layer of connectivity, on top of cell towers on earth and satellites in space. Here's how the balloons work.  SEE ALSO: A Norwegian designer created a $13,500 tiny home office with tinted glass to be a perfect backyard workspace — see inside the Studypod Loon's balloons are launched from stations in California and Puerto Rico. Launches that were once done by hand are now done by two 90-foot-tall automated machines. They can launch a balloon up to 60,000 feet high every 30 minutes. Helium and pressure are used to steer the balloons, directed by machine learning algorithms. The balloons are specifically to bring internet connectivity to a 50,000 square kilometer region of Kenya filled with mountains and sometimes inaccessible terrain that makes traditional connectivity methods difficult. Loon worked on this project with local company Telkon Kenya, the third largest ISP in Kenya. Source: Reuters Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth said that the need for internet connections is even more pressing with the coronavirus, as people are unable to go to school, work, or sometimes even a doctor. To provide coverage for this area, Loon is using at least 35 balloons that will be constantly moving above the stratosphere in eastern Africa. Loon will continue adding balloons to reach 35, and internet service should become more consistent as a result. So far, the team has found the connection works even for video calls and YouTube. Since it began testing this project, Loon says it has already connected 35,000 users. The balloons work as "floating cell towers." At any point, a particular balloon might be providing an internet connection, acting as a feeder in the mesh network to support other balloons, or repositioning itself. . Each has a solar panel and battery. According to Loon, the advantage of these floating internet connections is that they're flexible and need much less lead time than a cell tower or other permanent infrastructure. The stations can also be used quickly in emergencies that take out infrastructure, like after an earthquake in Peru last year. Source: Loon
https://bit.ly/3jkdBjx

Popular posts from this blog

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX.  Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...
Read more

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors.  * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...
Read more

PayPal parts with top advertising executive after shifting its marketing strategy during the pandemic

* PayPal's chief creative officer Steve Simpson, its top advertising executive, left the company after about a year. * The move came after PayPal shifted its marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic, placing less emphasis on the brand and more on catering to small businesses, said a source with direct knowledge of the marketing operation. * Simpson's departure followed that of CMO and former Apple executive Allison Johnson in May. Both "decided to leave PayPal" as the company streamlines its global marketing functions, according to a PayPal spokeswoman. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. PayPal's highest-ranking ad executive Steve Simpson left earlier this month after just over a year as part of a restructuring of its global marketing business. Simpson, who was chief creative officer, was hired to make high-minded ad campaigns to help PayPal stand out from competitors like Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay. But this strategy chan...
Read more