The Loon technology pilot will be coming to an end on March 1, 2021. It was first introduced in 2019 and was signed-off last year by the Kenyan Government.
Google’s parent company Alphabet, made the decision to close its sister firm Loon, created to manufacture giant balloons that could beam 4G internet to rural areas.
Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth wrote in a blog post that they had found a number of willing partners. The problem was they couldn’t find a way to get the costs low enough to build a sustainable long-term business.
The company set up nine years ago, had struggled to make profits from the internet-high altitude balloons. The idea was to have solar-powered balloons the size of a tennis court, in constant motion and self-navigating.
Telkom, who had just signed a deal with Loon, said in a statement that Loon will continue to provide the service until the 1st of March.
Telkom will work closely with Loon to ensure the project operations are wrapped up smoothly.
Alfred Gitonga is a passionate tech news writer with a deep interest in smartphones and related technologies. He is a staff writer at Mobitrends.co.ke.
