Quick View: Commercialisation, Regulatory Challenges Behind Alphabet's Loon Shutdown

摘要

The Latest: Alphabet has announced that it will be winding down Loon, a project which utilises balloon technology to beam connectivity from 20km above ground and which had been trialled in Sub-Saharan Africa. Implications: Loon was launched in 2011, with Alphabet looking to diversify beyond its dominant advertising business by taking advantage of rising demand for internet connectivity in infrastructure-poor markets. The project specifically targeted underpenetrated rural areas. The concept of floating cell towers and a faster network deployment timeframe provided some appeal in regions where operators faced hurdles such as challenging geography and low population density. The project established notable partnerships for relatively larger scale trials such as: 1. In July 2020, Telkom Kenya and Loon began the deployment of the service to cover an area of around 50,000 square kilometres across ten areas; 2. In March 2020, Vodacom Mozambique agreed to use Loon’s network to expand its high speed data network to Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces; and, 3. In November 2019, Telefonica’s Internet para Todos initiative used Loon to provide balloon-powered internet connectivity to remote areas of the Amazon rainforest.