Google’s Loon project has been granted a temporary licence by the US FCC to set up ballon-based communications in Puerto Rico and Tesla’s Elon Musk has discussed with the Governor the possibility of restoring power supplies by installing solar power infrastructure.

After a chat with Musk, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló said: “I told him because of the devastation, if there is a silver lining, we can start re-conceptualizing how we want to produce energy here in Puerto Rico and distribute it and do it in a more reliable fashion. It was a very positive first step.”

Google said:,”We need to take innovative approaches to help restore connectivity on the island. Project Loon is one such approach. It could help provide the people of Puerto Rico with access to cellular service to connect with loved ones and access life-saving information.”

Loon uses 12 mile high ballons acting as  floating cell towers connecting into terrestrial telcos’ mobile networks.

TheFCC licence lasts from October 6th until April 4th, 2018.

The balloons are expected to deliver emergency LTE cellular connectivity.

The FCC says over 80% of Puerto Rico’s cell towers are down.

Loon has previously been deployed in Brazil, France, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka.

By: DocMemory
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