PROBLEM AND SUGGESTION
GIANT floating balloons could help deliver internet and cell service to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and the Federal Communications Commission has issued an "experimental license" to X, the moonshot outfit owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet (GOOG), to try and provide service to the ailing island.
The project " Loon" could help restore some communications capabilities after Hurricane Maria wiped out Puerto Rico's infrastructure.
RESEARCH
More than two weeks after the storm, about 82% of the island is still without cell service and like Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that "an innovative approach is to be made in order to restore connectivity on the island. Project Loon is one such approach."
CHALLENGES
Loon works like floating cell towers. Giant balloons are sent about 12 miles up into the Earth's atmosphere. From there, they must work with an on-the-ground telecommunications system. For that to happen, X needs to partner with a telecom company that can provide that connectivity.
SUCCESS
The system has been proven to work. Earlier this year, X said balloons over Peru were able to provide key coverage as the country was plagued by floods.
But the reason Loon was up-and-running so quickly in Peru was because X had already been working alongside Telefónica (TEF). Their systems were already integrated and tests were conducted in the months before Loon ramped up its internet coverage to help flooded areas.
In Puerto Rico, however, X essentially had to start at square one.
