balloon
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SoftBank has successfully tried out a tethered balloon as a base station, using a cylindrical, rotating antenna that it first talked about last year. -
Nearly a year after Google’s parent group burst a project to use balloons to deliver mobile coverage in east Africa, another scheme has popped up.
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Google’s former Moonshot project, Loon, has transferred its patents to SoftBank for the Japanese company’s own balloon-based base station work.
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Telkom Kenya is set to lose its balloon-powered 4G network, only months after it launched the service in the presence of the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta.
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An uncrewed aircraft carrying an advanced antenna can replace 200 conventional mobile base stations, or even up to 700 in some cases.
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Telkom Kenya has activated its rural 4G mobile service using balloons from Google’s sister company Loon.
Forthcoming events
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The market for balloons, airships and other alternatives to mobile phone towers will be worth $4 billion in revenues over the next decade, according to a new report.
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Mobile operator Vodacom is to use Alphabet’s Loon balloon-carried base stations to extend coverage in Mozambique.
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Google’s sister company Loon is testing balloons that will provide 4G services across Kenya.
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Customers in Peru are now receiving LTE internet service from balloons, thanks to a collaboration between Google’s owner, Alphabet, with CenturyLink and Telefónica.
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Companies owned by SoftBank and Google owner Alphabet have put $250 million into a company that plans to deliver internet access from balloons and uncrewed aircraft.
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Google associate Project Loon is considering expanding its balloon-supported 4G network from Kenya to Uganda, according to reports.
