Alphabet has announced that it is shutting down its balloon-powered mobile Internet service, Loon in Kenya.
The project was launched in Kenya in 2018 in partnership with Telkom Kenya and sought to enable internet access to remote areas where setting up the traditional infrastructure is difficult or economically unviable. By last year, the project had however not kicked off over regulatory issues.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru cited the laggard nature of Kenya’s bureaucracy process as the major hindrance.
The ambitious project, however, went live in July last year. The project was given a green light by the government in March after schools shutdown and movement was restricted in and out of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi due to the coronavirus pandemic.