Kenya’s internet balloons remain grounded

The rural development project is awaiting government approval

A report in the Financial Times claims that, two years after it was announced, the project to bring high-speed internet to remote parts of Kenya is still waiting for approval. Loon, the company spun out of the Alphabet-X research unit, is due to begin a commercial trial with Telkom Kenya but is still awaiting authorisation from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and Ministry of Transport, the paper says. The project uses giant solar-powered balloons to broadcast a 4G signal. A government minister is quoted as saying that the project still has ‘100% support’, but that ‘we are just a bit slow in our bureaucracy’.