Article

2017-10-08 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Google to use balloons for Puerto Rico phone service

[Al Jazeera] Alphabet Inc, the company that controls Google, is sending special balloons to Puerto Rico to help restore phone service after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria last month.

The US Federal Communications Commission said it had approved the company's application to provide the emergency cellular service to Puerto Rico.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico has struggled to regain communications services. The FCC said on Friday that 83 percent of cell sites remain out of service, while wireless communications company are deploying temporary sites.

Alphabet, which announced its Project Loon in 2013 to use solar-powered, high-altitude balloons to provide internet service in remote regions, said in an FCC filing it was working to "support licensed mobile carriers' restoration of limited communications capability" in Puerto Rico.

Earlier on Friday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced he was forming a Hurricane Recovery Task Force with an emphasis on addressing challenges facing Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

"It is critical that we adopt a coordinated and comprehensive approach to support the rebuilding of communications infrastructure and restoration of communications services," Pai said in a statement.

Separately, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said in a Twitter posting late on Friday that he had a "great initial conversation with @elonmusk tonight. Teams are now talking; exploring opportunities. Next steps soon to follow."

Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc, said on Friday the company would send more battery installers to Puerto Rico to help restore power after Hurricane Maria knocked out all power on the island over two weeks ago.

Musk said he was diverting resources from a semi-truck project to fix Model 3 bottlenecks and "increase battery production for Puerto Rico & other affected areas".

In late September, Tesla said it was sending hundreds of batteries that can store power generated by solar panels to Puerto Rico to provide emergency help in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Posted by Fred 2017-10-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 Kool, balloons as COs and DAs with a satellite backbone infrastructure.

Posted by Skidmark 2017-10-08 11:00|| 2017-10-08 11:00|| Front Page Top

#2 So after you deploy all the 'gee whiz' technology to temporarily restore vital services, what will you do when nobody rebuilds the basic infrastructure to get things back to normal?
(Because frankly, 'normal' there rated as fairly crappy by usual standards.)

Posted by ed in texas 2017-10-08 11:36|| 2017-10-08 11:36|| Front Page Top

#3 ...the old adage - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Though the balloons will have to be reeled in during hurricane winds.

Posted by Procopius2k 2017-10-08 11:53|| 2017-10-08 11:53|| Front Page Top

#4 It can really be implemented as a geosynchronous mesh below flight lanes.

Posted by Skidmark 2017-10-08 14:12|| 2017-10-08 14:12|| Front Page Top

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