Google’s internet transmitting balloons to the rescue in Puerto Rico

Google is to use  30 solar-powered internet-transmitting balloons to restore emergency phone reception to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. According to the US Federal Communications  Commission, 83 per cent of phone towers, are out of service, with communications companies trying to install temporary masts.

The Google balloons which travel on the edge of space were designed to extend internet connectivity to people in rural and remote areas worldwide but they can also be deployed for disaster relief operations. Google’s emergency phone service as part of Project Loon in Peru earlier in the year after widespread flooding.