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Loon, the Alphabet subsidiary that used giant balloons to transmit the Internet to people in remote areas around the world, has announced that it is shutting down its operations.
It was once part of Alphabet’s innovative “moonshot” factory, X.
In a Medium article breaking the news, Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth explained that the company’s business model was ultimately unsustainable.
“While we have found a number of willing partners along the way, we haven’t found a way to cut costs enough to create a long-term sustainable business,” he wrote.
“We talk a lot about connecting the next billion users, but the reality is that Loon has been looking for the most difficult connectivity problem of all – the last billion users: communities located in areas too difficult or remote to reach, or areas where providing services with existing technologies is too expensive for ordinary people. “
Loon was born in 2011, with engineers using what they described as a “garbage bag-like” balloon for an early prototype. The company then carried out years of testing and, in 2018, he was separated from X to become its own subsidiary Alphabet.
The company based its technology on an eye-catching premise: balloons would act as “floating base stations,” which could cover a much larger area – about 200 times more – than a ground station. ITs balloons were typically positioned about 20 kilometers (12 miles) above Earth.
In recent years, Loon has made a name for himself connecting people during natural disasters. In 2017, he helped bring the internet to tens of thousands of people in Peru after massive flooding, and after Hurricane Maria, he helped around 200,000 people connect in Puerto Rico.
Last year, the company also brought its balloons to Africa, marking the first commercial launch of such a service in the region. Telkom Kenya, the mobile service provider it has partnered with, said on Friday it would end the pilot project with Loon in March.
This news also marks the end of another strategic partnership. In 2019, SoftBank (SFTBF) The HAPSMobile unit has invested $ 125 million in Loon. The companies said they would team up to “bring more people, places and things online.” HAPSMobile did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
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