Kenya will use the Loon project of Alphabet to access Internet from a distance

Kenya is turning to the Loon project of Alphabet to help bring Internet to some rural communities in the East African nation, according to a report released Wednesday by Reuters.

Loon Project – which started as a Google project in 2013 – launches balloons into the stratosphere that are designed to act as floating cell towers. They work high enough that they do not interfere with power lines, planes or wild animals, which of course is abundant in Kenya. Joe Mucheru, Kenyan Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, told Reuters that Loon's representatives "were holding talks" with local telecom operators on the deployment of Loon balloons.

"The Loon team is still working on contracts," Mucheru told the press service. "I hope that once that is done, we will be able to see almost every region of the country covered."

Alphabet representatives did not immediately respond to a Business Insider comment request. Project Loon is developed by X, formerly Google X – a skunkworks research group under the umbrella of the Alphabet business. Other Alphabet companies include Google, Waymo, and Verily.

Kenya, home to some of the world's most visited game reserves, such as the Maasai Mara and Amboseli National Park, boasts Africa's eighth largest economy, according to the Fund's estimates. International Monetary Fund. The largest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa, are well connected to the Web, but many rural communities remain without access.

Project Loon's technology was credited last year to help bring Internet connectivity to a quarter of a million people in Puerto Rico who lost access following Hurricane Maria .

"Connectivity is critical," Mucheru told Reuters. "If you are not online, you are excluded."