Telkom Kenya has partnered with Google to use Loon baloons to provide partners with Loon LLC to provide 4G/LTE mobile services in areas with low network coverage. This is the first Loon commercial service in Africa.
Loon uses base stations that are housed high altitude balloons that operate 20 kilometres (65,000 feet) above sea level to provide mobile phone services. The base stations are powered by on-board solar panels.
Telkom Kenya and Loon plan to pilot the service in the coming months in Central Kenya with an aim of launching the service in 2019.
Loon has been testing their service in Kenya since July 2017 when they deployed 10 baloons in Nakuru, Nanyuki, Nyeri and Marsabit. 1 baloon later crashed in Meru in December 2017.