Alphabet To Deploy Balloon Internet In Kenya With Telkom In 2019

After successfully testing and delivering Internet service to remote places in Kenya using flying balloons, Alphabet's Loon on Thursday announced that it would deploy its system of balloons across Kenya so as to boost high-speed Internet access coverage to both rural and urban areas.

The technology which was developed by Alphabet's X lab is known as Project Loon. Loon is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company which owns Google.

According to reports, Loon is to beam high-speed Internet access with Telkom Kenya starting next year. This will be the company's commercial first deal in Africa.

Also Read: Kenya Airtel free unlimited internet trick on XP Psiphon and Http injector

This same technology was used by US telecom operators to provide connectivity to more than 250,000 people after the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico last year.

Loon's mission is to connect people everywhere by inventing and integrating audacious technologies,'said Alastair Westgarth, the chief executive of Loon.


Telkom Kenya comes behind market leader Safaricom and Bharti Airtel in Kenya. However, Telkom Kenya hopes the technology will help achieve full Internet coverage of its population.

"We will work very hard with Loon, to deliver the first commercial mobile service, as quickly as possible, using Loon's ballon-powered Internet in Africa," Chief executive of Telkom Kenya, Aldo Mareuse said.

The Loon service uses balloons which are powered by an on-board solar panel to provide 4G coverage to areas with lower population densities.

Project Loon researchers even say that it is possible to use machine learning to predict weather systems. This allows the firm to control where the balloons goes so as to focus on a particular region instead of traveling around the globe.

Kenya has a population of over 45 million people with telecom operators covering just the towns and cities while the vast part of rural Kenya are left out. This deal will definitely give Telkom Kenya an edge over the major operators.

Alphabet To Deploy Balloon Internet In Kenya With Telkom In 2019

After successfully testing and delivering Internet service to remote places in Kenya using flying balloons, Alphabet's Loon on Thursday announced that it would deploy its system of balloons across Kenya so as to boost high-speed Internet access coverage to both rural and urban areas.

The technology which was developed by Alphabet's X lab is known as Project Loon. Loon is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company which owns Google.

According to reports, Loon is to beam high-speed Internet access with Telkom Kenya starting next year. This will be the company's commercial first deal in Africa.

Also Read: Kenya Airtel free unlimited internet trick on XP Psiphon and Http injector

This same technology was used by US telecom operators to provide connectivity to more than 250,000 people after the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico last year.

Loon's mission is to connect people everywhere by inventing and integrating audacious technologies,'said Alastair Westgarth, the chief executive of Loon.


Telkom Kenya comes behind market leader Safaricom and Bharti Airtel in Kenya. However, Telkom Kenya hopes the technology will help achieve full Internet coverage of its population.

"We will work very hard with Loon, to deliver the first commercial mobile service, as quickly as possible, using Loon's ballon-powered Internet in Africa," Chief executive of Telkom Kenya, Aldo Mareuse said.

The Loon service uses balloons which are powered by an on-board solar panel to provide 4G coverage to areas with lower population densities.

Project Loon researchers even say that it is possible to use machine learning to predict weather systems. This allows the firm to control where the balloons goes so as to focus on a particular region instead of traveling around the globe.

Kenya has a population of over 45 million people with telecom operators covering just the towns and cities while the vast part of rural Kenya are left out. This deal will definitely give Telkom Kenya an edge over the major operators.

Google Launches Street View In Kenya

Google on Monday announced its launch of Street View in Kenya. The launch adds the East African country to the list of other 45 countries around the world to have the Google service.

The Alphabet company made the announcement during an event aimed to "make Google work for everyone in #Kenya"

Google Street View service allows visitors to move around a any neighbourhood virtually through panoramic street-level images. The technology is featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides extensive views from various streets in the world.

The Street View will cover a few locations in the East African country. Locations which include Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyeri and Malindi, covering about 9,500 kilometres.


The launch of this service in Kenya will enable people around the world to virtually explore the country via images of streets, cities and parks. The focus will be on main cities, roads and heavily visited places such as tourist destinations.

"Google Street View will bring Kenya to the world by enabling a global audience to virtually explore our cities, other urban centres and other places of interest and also bring the world to Kenya by whetting a user's appetite to physically visit a place of interest that they have experienced virtually," Kenya's Minister for Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala said.

"By virtually or physically visiting Kenya's leading tourist attractions, we will inspire people around the world to gain a deeper appreciation for Kenya, its people, the natural landscape, and the wildlife that inhabits it so that they can visit and also support the preservation of this natural heritage," the minister added.

Launched in 2007 in the United States, the Google service has grown across several cities and rural areas worldwide. The Street View service shows stitched images which are taken by car, tricycle, trekker, boat, snowmobile and underwater apparatus.

Blue lines on Google Maps indicates that Street View imaginary is available on that section.