Alphabet's Loon launches balloon-based internet service in Kenya

Loon, the balloon-based telecom subsidiary from Google parent Alphabet, is working with Telkom Kenya to provide internet service over a 50,000-square-kilometer region in western and central Kenya, a region that has been hard to cover using traditional approaches given its terrain and low population density. 

The big picture: The project marks the first large-scale, non-emergency deployment of Loon's service anywhere, as well as the first use of Loon's technology in Africa. It will also serve as an early test of the Loon service's commercial viability.