Collapse of Loon project dims promise of cheaper Internet

A Loon balloon floating in the air space. [Courtesy]

The news that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is winding down its subsidiary Loon has dealt a blow to efforts to provide affordable Internet to under-served areas of the country.

Loon Chief Executive Alastair Westgarth said the decision to shut down the firm less than a year after launching commercial services in Kenya was made out of high costs that made the project unsustainable.