{UAH} Google's WiFi balloons connect rural Kenyans to the Internet

Folks;

Google has been piloting this project for sometime now. It's a game changer for Africa, given its sporadic power connection.

But, I can see some intrepid politicians in Kenya, and Africa in general, taking credits for the Wi-Fi balloons, and asking for votes!

Pojim

https://www.yahoo.com/news/alphabets-internet-balloons-launched-over-105143922.html

President Uhuru Kenyatta is getting a video call from a remote part of Kenya's Rift Valley - something made possible by the launch of a world first in commercial internet.

In Baringo on Wednesday (July 8), Google parent company Alphabet launched high-speed internet provided by... balloons. Yes, balloons - really high flying balloons, soaring higher than planes - hoisting powerful transmitters similar to a cellphone tower. It allows people in the remote regions below to get high speed internet, through a partnership with Telkom Kenya. The technology has been used before - to connect more than 250,000 people in Puerto Rico after a 2017 hurricane.

But Kenya's information minister Joe Mucheru says this is the first commercial application. "We want the rest of Africa to join us, creating a single digital market, so that you know 1.3 billion Africans can also all be connected." The balloons are launched from facilities in California and Puerto Rico and use artificial intelligence to navigate flight paths without much human intervention. For residents in Baringo, the long flight of the balloons means they no longer have to trek more than 40 miles to the nearest towns for an internet connection. Dorcas Kipkeroi says she wants to sell her jars of honey to expatriate Kenyans longing for a taste of home. "This will help me reach out to people even in the diaspora, because it has really been hard due to poor network around here." Loon has a deal to roll out the service in Mozambique and chief executive Alastair Westgarth says there has been increased interest from operators and governments after lockdown measures forced people to rely on the internet more heavily.