
FCC approves cellular service in Puerto Rico through Project Loon balloons - doener
https://twitter.com/matthewberryfcc/status/916446259598299140
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shpx
You can see the balloons on flight trackers. There's one by the Virgin Islands
right now
[https://www.flightradar24.com/HBAL194](https://www.flightradar24.com/HBAL194)

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autocorr
That's very cool. I hope if it becomes semi-pernanent that they're able to
keep the balloons from hitting the Arecibo Radio Observatory with radio
frequency interference.

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yardie
The observatory is in a high altitude and remote part of the island. I'd be
surprised if they get any coverage out there since it would make more sense to
keep them over the more populated regions.

~~~
maxerickson
100,000 people live within a few miles of it, in the municipality with the
same name. It's not all that far from the coast:

[https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/23957081#map=12/18.4031/-6...](https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/23957081#map=12/18.4031/-66.7136)

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geetfun
Great to see bureaucracy not getting in the way of something like this. Is
there a link somewhere about Google’s tech and motivation?

~~~
maxerickson
There's a brochure:

[https://x.company/loon/](https://x.company/loon/)

They want to increase the availability of internet in remote areas.

~~~
rasz
if only it was original Google idea, and not something stolen by X division
like
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15422157](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15422157)

[https://www.wired.com/story/the-lawsuit-that-could-pop-
alpha...](https://www.wired.com/story/the-lawsuit-that-could-pop-alphabets-
project-loon-balloons/)

~~~
JPLeRouzic
Many people had this idea decades before Google. In the 60" the NASA tested
the idea of "Satellite balloons" [0].

Following this experimentation, engineers in France planned to create (in the
sixties) a national network of telecom (atmospheric, not satellite) balloons,
but it turned out it was easier to build telecom towers.

Myself I wrote a Web site in the late 90" explaining the technology (at that
time) and economics of such networks. I think it was one of the earliest
proposals where active platforms (Echo balloons were passive) and modern
telecom (at that time) technology, where brought together. I cannot find it on
the interweb anymore.

Later in the 2000" but before Loons there were several research projects on
such high altitude platforms. [1]

I filled an unsuccessful proposal for such a project inside my company in
2008.

[0] [https://www.space.com/8973-1st-communication-satellite-
giant...](https://www.space.com/8973-1st-communication-satellite-giant-space-
balloon-50-years.html)

[1]
[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060717103934.h...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060717103934.htm)

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dmihal
Between this and Tesla, it seems like Puerto Rico might be a great opportunity
to try out experimental technology.

~~~
maxerickson
Tesla isn't really deploying experimental technology.

Short of some evidence that they have installed an enormous amount of storage
and panels, I'm going to be cynical and assume that they are mostly deploying
marketing.

~~~
giarc
I may be incorrect, but it's not even that. I think someone on twitter asked
Musk if they could help provide power to PR. And Musk basically said yes they
could, like they've done in other areas. I don't think it went any further
than that.

~~~
maxerickson
There are some news stories about Tesla employees working on the island.

[http://fortune.com/2017/09/28/tesla-battery-puerto-rico-
powe...](http://fortune.com/2017/09/28/tesla-battery-puerto-rico-power/)

But the goal is 20 billion kw-h (I guess per year):

[https://www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=RQ](https://www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=RQ)

So all credit to Tesla for helping with a few tens of thousands of those
kilowatt hours, but there is need to keep a firm eye on the reality of the
situation.

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amigoingtodie
Is this real? Better URL?

~~~
bsimpson
[https://www.wired.com/story/google-closer-to-using-
balloons-...](https://www.wired.com/story/google-closer-to-using-balloons-for-
telecom-in-puerto-rico)

Which started out as this tweetstorm from the writer:
[https://twitter.com/meharris/status/916436843771478016](https://twitter.com/meharris/status/916436843771478016)

