For That Country, Access To Internet-Enabled Devices Is A More Pressing Issue

A technology analyst in Africa says that Google's Project Loon would not make it easier for people in remote areas to have access to the Internet for a very basic reason: many people in those areas cannot afford to buy the devices that would allow them to go online.

The program being evaluated by the Internet giant would use a constellation of balloons flying in the stratosphere to relay 3G signals to remote areas using solar-powered transmitters and receivers, providing Wi-Fi access.

But the MIT Technology Review reports that Phares Kariuki, an entrepreneur who is working to establish a supercomputing cluster in Nairobi called iHub, says that most of Kenya already has 3G access, but the people who the Google Loon project would serve have a larger problem. They can't afford devices such as laptop computers and smartphones that would take advantage of the service.

Google Loon project manager Mike Cassidy says that while Kenya does already have such access, that many other countries in Africa and elsewhere do not. The program is currently being tested in rural areas of New Zealand. but Kariuki said that even if Google is able to prove that the system will work, it does not mean that people will actually use it.

Another iHub manager says that the balloon idea is more about marketing than solving a problem. Jimmy Gitonga said that, in his view, "what Google probably wants to do is make sure the Google brand gains mindshare."

(Google Loon launch image provided by Google)

FMI: http://www.ihub.co.ke/