Google’s sister company X has lofty ambitions to bring wireless internet to remote parts of the world by beaming it down from balloons. Last week, X announced it wanted to use its Project Loon tech to restore mobile communications to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
Currently, 82 per cent of Puerto Rico’s internet base stations are down. But is X, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet and styles itself as the “moonshot factory”, really Puerto Rico’s best hope? And who will benefit most – X or the people they want to help?
“It’s terrific that someone with radical tech is stepping in to help out,” says at the University at Albany in New York, who works on wireless networks for developing countries. “Communication in this kind of situation is critical for both relief workers and families who have been separated.”
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X already has a licence from the US Federal Communications Commission. “We need to take innovative approaches to help restore connectivity on the island,” said FCC chairman Ajit Pai in a statement. “Project Loon is one such approach.”
The company is now talking to local telecoms companies about how to manage the next stage. “To deliver signal to people’s devices, Loon needs be integrated with a telco partner’s network — the balloons can’t do it alone,” says X’s Libby Leahy.
Project loon
But once Project Loon is up and running in Puerto Rico, will it help those most in need? X’s balloons will beam down 4G internet, but many people may not have 4G phones, says Zheleva. “That raises a red flag in my mind,” she says. “You need to take into account what people have in their pockets. I’m very interested to see what coverage they can provide.”
at the Oxford Internet Institute, who studies developing information economies, also welcomes X’s plans. But he thinks we should be clear up front what Alphabet might want in return. “If they want to try to harvest, sell and monetise the data of users, and further entrench their monopoly, we should we wary of their goals,” he says. “A free service may come at a price if Project Loon does not offer access to the open internet.”
It may sound cynical but these are exactly the concerns raised about Facebook’s efforts to provide mobile internet to developing countries – and a big reason India shut down the company’s Free Basics service last year.
And X is not the only Silicon Valley company to offer aid. Elon Musk has said that Tesla could . And Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg took part in a livestreamed virtual reality tour of the island’s devastation – something The Guardian called “”.
“Let’s make sure we recognise whether Project Loon is a selfless act of charity or a core part of the business strategy of one of the world’s largest internet corporations,” says Graham.
But if not Alphabet, then who else can help? There are several start-ups that offer “network-in-a-box” solutions, says Zheleva. Efforts like , and make small box-like devices that provide a local cellular network at ground level. These might not have the range of Project Loon but they cater to a wider range of phones, including older 2G and 3G models. “They would be a perfect fit for the communication needs in these communities,” says Zheleva.
“Anything being done is better than nothing,” she says. “But I hope this situation makes us think of alternative.”
Article amended on 16 October 2017
We clarified the nature of the “network-in-a-box” schemes.
