Google Loon internet balloons help restore coverage to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico

[nitpicker]

http://www.dw.com/en/google-loon-internet-balloons-help-restore-coverage-to-hurricane-ravaged-puerto-rico/a-41059205

Google Loon internet balloons help restore coverage to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico

Google's parent company Alphabet Inc on Friday deployed its experimental "Project Loon" balloons, offering internet access to remote areas of Puerto Rico, which is still suffering from the effects of Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Customers of cellphone provider AT&T can now connect to basic text, email and web service with LTE-enabled phones by way of two balloons that are floating some 18,000 meters (60,000 feet) above the Caribbean islands, according to FlightRadar24.com. Alphabet Inc said several more balloons would be deployed in the coming days to allow better communications in the hurricanes' worst-hit areas.

The solar-powered balloons rely on an algorithm for navigation, which takes into consideration wind currents to help them remain in position. The experimental service only provides an internet signal during the day.

"This is the first time we have used our new machine learning powered algorithms to keep balloons clustered over Puerto Rico, so we're still learning how best to do this," said Alastair Westgarth, head of Project Loon. "As we get more familiar with the constantly shifting winds in this region, we hope to keep the balloons over areas where connectivity is needed for as long as possible."

The balloons can stay in the stratosphere for more than a hundred days and each Loon can provide data transmission over a 100 kilometer range, according to the project's website.
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While a majority of residents remain without power, AT&T has set up 14 temporary mobile towers - including the balloons, allowing more than 60 percent of the population to connect their cellphones.