HAPSmobile invest £96 million into Google's Loon project

Friday 26 April 2019 by Charlotte Whyatt 

Japanese firm HAPSmobile has invested £97 million into Google’s Loon project.

Loon’s mission is to deliver high-speed internet to hard-to-reach rural communities around the world by placing antennas into giant stratospheric balloons. 

HAPSmobile, which is an affiliate of Japenese telecommunication company Softbank, has previously tested its own version of this technology using drones. 

'I'm confident we can accelerate the path toward the realisation of utilising the stratosphere for global networks by pooling our technologies, insights and experience,” said HAPSMobile's chief executive Junichi Miyakawa. 

Each balloon is able to travel approximately 12 miles above the earth’s surface and can provide connectivity to a ground area of around 20 miles using 4G. 

Loon have been running tests for nearly a decade and hope to hold their first commercial trial in Kenya later this year. 

It joins a collection of similar projects from billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.

The two firms are currently discussing the possibility of using each other’s technology, standardising their network gear and joining forces in regulatory issues. 

Source: Daily Mail