Kenya to have internet access through high-altitude balloons!

The world is developing at a lightning speed, but still, billions of people on Earth are not connected to the internet. There are an 'n' number of people who do not have access to the internet even in this era. They tend to live in the poorest places with the least infrastructure to support it.

As an initiative, Kenya has been chosen as the home-country for a Google-affiliated company to start its first-announced commercial deal that will deliver internet access to remote areas using high-altitude balloons.

Loon, which is linked to Google through parent company Alphabet Inc., says it will work with Telkom Kenya to deliver 4G/LTE cellular access to Kenya in 2019, according to an AP report.

Important facts about the project:

1. The balloons will be tested in central Kenya, which has been difficult to service due to mountainous or inaccessible terrain.
2. The high-altitude balloons have already been deployed in emergencies in Peru and Puerto Rice, where they helped regions devastated by floods and hurricanes.
3. Google first launched the project in 2013.
4. The announcement comes just a week after Loon graduated from Alphabet's secretive "moonshot factory" known as X. This means that it is considered a full-fledged company besides sibling companies including Google and self-driving car developer Waymo.

"We're excited to take a big step forward for our business and mission," Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth, said in a Medium post.

The goal of the project:

1. Since Google first launched the project in 2013, its goal has been to connect everyone on the planet.
2. While getting more people connected fits with Google's ambitions of making information "universally accessible and useful," it also increases the number of people who can use Google's ad-supported services.

Westgarth says Alphabet marks a significant milestone in a journey that began in 2013 when a New Zealand sheep farmer became one of the first to connect with Loon test balloons (as per PTI).

Facebook's efforts

• Facebook has also been trying to provide the facility of internet via solar-powered drones.
• In the previous year, it completed a test flight above Arizona, after an earlier flight resulted in a crash.
• Last month, Facebook announced it would stop making its own aircrafts and would support other high-altitude connectivity initiatives.