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FCC approves additional funding for Puerto Rico hurricane recovery
The FCC approved a measure today that will make additional funds immediately available for ongoing hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico will receive $51.2 million for restoration efforts and the US Virgin Islands will have access to an additional $13 million. Additionally, the FCC is seeking comment on medium- and long-term funding proposals that will go towards improving broadband and 4G LTE access on the islands.
Puerto Rico restores 70 percent of its power following blackout
Just one day after the beleaguered US territory suffered another island-wide blackout, Reuters reports that Puerto Rico's power company has restored power to more than 1.1 million homes and businesses.
Puerto Rico is experiencing an island-wide blackout (updated)
Seven months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico, the power grid is still unstable. But progress was being made; according to CBS, less than 10 percent of the island was without power as of a month ago. But now, the Associated Press reports that the island is undergoing yet another full blackout. The power company is still investigating the cause and estimates it will take 24 to 36 hours for power to be restored.
FCC proposes $954 million to restore Puerto Rico's telecom networks
The FCC is ready to do more to help Hurricane Maria victims beyond a task force and short-term cash infusions. Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed spending a total of $954 million to both fix and expand telecom networks in both Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The measure would offer an extra $64 million in near-term recovery, but would also include $631 million to repair and grow wired broadband as well as $259 million to improve LTE data.
Project Loon delivers internet to 100,000 people in Puerto Rico
The FCC granted Alphabet's Project Loon, which delivers internet via balloons, an experimental license last month to help get Puerto Ricans online after Hurricane Maria decimated the island's infrastructure. While the team cautiously tweeted that it would 'explore of it was possible to help,' Project Loon announced today that it has worked with AT&T and T-Mobile to successfully deliver basic internet to over 100,000 Puerto Ricans to the internet.
AT&T's 'Flying COW' drone provides cell service to Puerto Rico
These days, it's just as important to have communication up and running after a major disaster as it is to have power, food and drinkable water. The FCC approved $77 million to fix communications in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, while Project Loon (a collaboration with AT&T, Alphabet and T-Mobile) has found ways to get the internet up and running via LTE-providing balloons. Now, AT&T has deployed its helicopter Flying COW (Cell on Wings) to temporarily provide data, voice and text services to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Now T-Mobile is working with Project Loon in Puerto Rico
Last week AT&T announced it was the first carrier working with Alphabet's balloon-distributed wireless setup in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and now T-Mobile customers have access too. Project Loon started off in the X Labs at Google -- which are now a part of its parent company Alphabet -- and uses balloons floating 20km high in the stratosphere that beam internet to people below. T-Mobile didn't specify which phones are compatible so far, but this should provide daytime access to limited internet service (text messaging, basic web access and email) in areas where the towers are still out. The Team at X tweeted that Project Loon has already delivered access to "tens of thousands" of people in Puerto Rico, and this should add many more to that number. Residents who use it won't necessarily know they're on Project Loon however, since the team says it appears on their just like any other LTE connection.
What is the future of Puerto Rico’s energy grid?
Delivering power to the inhabitants of a small island is a very different challenge to the sort found in other places. Resource poverty can mean that vital supplies need to be brought in, either by air or sea, purchased at a premium. The environment often offers its own bundle of problems, including the fact that the prevalence of salt water often corrodes mechanical equipment. Fast-growing vegetation and rocky terrain can compound the issue, making power networks hard to build and maintain.
Project Loon's LTE balloons are floating over Puerto Rico
About a month after Hurricane Maria's devastating landfall on Puerto Rico and a couple of weeks after the FCC gave clearance, Project Loon is bringing wireless internet to people on remote parts of the island. Part of (Google parent company) Alphabet's X innovation lab, the project uses balloons circling the Earth at high altitude to provide wireless connections. Now, it's partnered with AT&T to light up "limited" internet connectivity with support for text messaging, basic web access and email.
Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for insensitive VR tour of Puerto Rico
Did Mark Zuckerberg's VR tour of hurricane-struck Puerto Rico come across as callous to you? You're far from alone, and Zuckerberg realizes it... in a manner of speaking. The Facebook chief has apologized for his approach to the tour, arguing that what he intended and what happened didn't quite match. He wanted to show how VR could "raise awareness" of events and simultaneously promote a recovery partnership with the Red Cross, but "this wasn't clear" in the presentation, according to the CEO.
Project Loon cleared to help restore wireless in Puerto Rico
Project Loon -- the balloon delivered internet project that started life as part of Google and now calls Alphabet's X "innovation lab" home -- has moved one step closer to becoming a part of the relief efforts in Puerto Rico. The FCC has issued an "experimental license" for it to provide emergency cellular LTE service. In a statement, an X spokesperson explained that the next step is to integrate with a telco partner's network, which it's "making solid progress on."
FCC approves $77 million to fix communications in Puerto Rico and VI
Two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the FCC has approved a measure providing up to $77 million to restore networks there and in the US Virgin Islands. It said that as of yesterday, 88 percent of cell sites were still down in Puerto Rico, as well as 67 percent in the USVI. While chairman Ajit Pai said "since we've adopted this item so expeditiously, carriers will be able to elect to have accelerated payments begin flowing this month," fellow commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said "let's not kid ourselves, this is not enough. The road to recovery is long." The money is coming from the Universal Service Fund, and the FCC says "Any funds advanced under today's action can be used to repair telecommunications infrastructure and restore service to customers across the islands." This payment is intended to cover up to seven months of "high-cost support" and anticipated repair costs for companies that operate the towers, listed below.
Tesla is shipping hundreds of Powerwall batteries to Puerto Rico
Tesla is sending hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico. The commonwealth has been almost entirely without power since after Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20th and tore up its energy infrastructure. Once the storm passed, Tesla started sending hundreds of its standalone power banks, and some have already arrived while more are en route.
Facebook sends help to Puerto Rico to get the island back online
Facebook has touted its ability to provide infrastructure for disaster-stricken areas before, and now it's dispatching a team to Puerto Rico to help reestablish internet connectivity. "We're sending the Facebook connectivity team to deliver emergency telecommunications assistance to get the systems up and running," Mark Zuckerberg writes in a status update.
Hurricane Maria wreaks havoc on Arecibo radio telescope
Puerto Rico is suffering on an unimaginable scale in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Many have been displaced from their homes, and the entire territory may go without electricity and reliable communication for months. And while the human tragedy is clearly the most important concern, it's also having a terrible effect on the scientific community. Researchers have learned that the Arecibo Observatory and its signature radio telescope took significant damage when the hurricane passed over. All staff members are thankfully safe for now, but an atmospheric radar line feed and a 39-foot dish (used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry) were lost in winds that reached up to 155MPH. The gigantic central dish is intact, although the line feed's collapse punctured it in places.
