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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday November 11 2017, @02:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-the-air dept.

Balloons operated by Google, AT&T, and T-Mobile have provided Internet connectivity to about 100,000 residents in Hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, although about half of the cell sites servicing the island of 3.5 million people are down:

Alphabet's Project Loon, which last month partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile to bring LTE connectivity to disaster-stricken Puerto Rico, says its helium air balloons have delivered internet to 100,000 residents on the island. A significant portion of Puerto Rico, still struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Maria, is still without cell tower reception, with the Federal Communications Commission reporting earlier today that nearly 44 percent of Puerto Rico cell sites are still out of service. Loon deployed balloons in late October in what was its fastest-ever deployment in an effort to help residents get back online as soon as possible.

Also at Engadget and 9to5Google.

Previously: Alphabet Deploys Project Loon Balloons to Puerto Rico


Original Submission

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Alphabet Deploys Project Loon Balloons to Puerto Rico 8 comments

Alphabet's Project Loon deploys LTE balloons in Puerto Rico

Alphabet's Project Loon has officially deployed its LTE balloons to Puerto Rico, the team announced this afternoon. In a blog penned by Project Loon head Alastair Westgarth, the company says it's working with the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Aviation Authority, FEMA, and other cellular spectrum and aviation authorities to bring connectivity to parts of the island still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Loon's official LTE partner for the initiative is AT&T, which is helping Loon use its fleet of stratospheric helium balloons to bring functions like text messaging and minor web browsing access to Puerto Rico residents who have LTE-equipped smartphones.

Also at TechCrunch.


Original Submission

Alphabet to Deliver Internet Access in India Using Laser Beams 17 comments

Instead of using balloons or drones, Alphabet/Google X plans to create a backbone of fixed boxes that communicate using lasers in order to deliver Internet access in Andhra Pradesh. Users would connect to the end points wirelessly:

Alphabet's X Lab has cooked up yet another Internet connectivity scheme, according to a report from Reuters. Past efforts have involved floating Internet balloons and laying lots of fiber optic cable, but this Internet delivery system sends data over laser beams! This isn't an experimental system like Project Loon; India's Andhra Pradesh state government has signed an agreement with Alphabet to bring the technology to millions of people starting next year.

[...] Alphabet's rollout in India will involve fitting "2,000 boxes installed as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart on posts and roofs" according to the report. The optical system is expected to hit 20 Gbit/s from box to box and would serve as a backbone, replacing more expensive technologies like fiber optics. The final connection to users would happen over Wi-Fi or cellular.

Related: Google May Test Balloon Internet Service Over the United States
Google Kills Off Titan Internet Drone "Moonshot"
Alphabet Deploys Project Loon Balloons to Puerto Rico
Balloons Provide Internet Service to 100,000 People in Puerto Rico


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @02:50AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @02:50AM (#595459)

    Your corporate overlords are beta than you peon.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:09AM (2 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:09AM (#595465) Homepage

      Well, that is a gay generic response, so I will have to tell you something more evil...

      Naomi Klein's Disaster Capitalism. [wikipedia.org]

      • (Score: 2) by tibman on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:38AM

        by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:38AM (#595477)

        I like the one where Ozymandias destroys every major city on the planet : )

        --
        SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Saturday November 11 2017, @05:18AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 11 2017, @05:18AM (#595501) Journal
        I find it interesting how her second chapter is about Chile of the 1970s with said disaster capitalism following disaster socialism (under Allende). As Rahm Emanuel said:

        You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.

        Capitalism is not somehow uniquely suited to the exploitation of emergencies.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:07AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:07AM (#595463)

    Our little brown brothers always need saving.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:47AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:47AM (#595481)

    Our little brown brothers always need saving.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:20PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:20PM (#595595)

    Our little brown brothers always need saving.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2017, @03:56PM (#595613)

    Balloons to Puerto Rico
    Say the word and we go
    You can be my freaka
    Girl, I'll be a fleeko, mamacita
    I will never make a promise that I can't keep
    I promise that your smile ain't gon' never leave

    Bruno_Mars&s=That's_What_I_Like [jango-raid.ml]

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