Google parent Alphabet is shutting down its ‘balloon internet company’

According to a news report, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has announced its plans to shut down its internet balloon business, Loon. Loon commenced as a project by Google with the aim of providing a less expensive alternative to providing internet access in areas of the world where building cell towers is too expensive. Alphabet’s main reason for halting Loon, according to the report, is that the project is taking longer to be commercially viable thereby making it riskier to continue the venture. The report pointed out that a major setback was that wireless carriers who were to be the potential buyers of the Loon technology questioned its technical and political viability.