The first commercial deployment for Project Loon -- the "balloon-powered internet" being developed by Google parent Alphabet -- is headed for Kenya, the US tech giant said Thursday.

In a collaboration with Telkom Kenya, Loon will provide internet service from high-altitude balloons whose paths across the sky are choreographed to maintain coverage, according to Loon, the newly independent business unit within Alphabet.

Loon-enabled internet service will be provided to portions of central Kenya starting next year, according to Loon chief executive Alastair Westgarth who said the company's goal was to "connect people everywhere."

"We couldn't be more excited to start our journey in Kenya, and we look forward to working with mobile network partners worldwide to deliver on the promise of Loon," Westgarth said in a blog post.

Alphabet last week announced it was raising the profile of two "moonshot" projects -- Loon and the drone delivery unit known as Wing.

Wing and Loon have been part of the Alphabet "moonshot factory" known as X, creating projects with potential to disrupt new sectors.

Loon has been testing a network of balloons, traveling along the edge of space, to expand internet connectivity to underserved areas and disaster zones.

Facebook last month ended its plan to produce a fleet of drones to provide internet connectivity to remote areas of the globe but said it would continue working on these efforts with various manufacturing partners include Airbus.

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Merging antenna and electronics boosts energy and spectrum efficiency
Atlanta GA (SPX) Jul 19, 2018
By integrating the design of antenna and electronics, researchers have boosted the energy and spectrum efficiency for a new class of millimeter wave transmitters, allowing improved modulation and reduced generation of waste heat. The result could be longer talk time and higher data rates in millimeter wave wireless communication devices for future 5G applications. The new co-design technique allows simultaneous optimization of the millimeter wave antennas and electronics. The hybrid devices use co ... read more