Telkom to scale up 4G network as balloon-powered Internet deal ends
Friday January 22 2021
By JAMES KARIUKI
Telkom Kenya plans to scale up its 4G network as its balloon-powered Internet partnership with Google’s affiliate company Loon comes to an end on March 1.
Alphabet, Google’s parent firm, announced on Thursday that it was shutting down its Loon programme because it was not commercially viable.
“Telkom believes in taking bold decisions. It was very exciting, therefore, to partner with like-minded pioneers in the adoption and usage of innovative technologies such as Loon, with the aim of filling in the Internet access gaps in areas that were difficult to service,” its chief executive Mugo Kibati said in a statement on Friday.