FCC Commissioner Says US Government Can Provide Internet Access to Cuba

Federal Communications commissioner Brendan Carr says high-altitude balloons could be used to deliver internet to Cuba, as the country's communist regime shut down internet access to block protests from spreading across the country.

"There's an urgent need right now," Carr said, but "a lot depends on the level of federal support." The federal government could leverage a defunct Google initiative that used stratospheric balloons like cell towers to deliver internet access, Carr told the Washington Free Beacon. Called Project Loon, the initiative was shuttered due to a lack of commercial viability. Carr said sourcing the balloons and "de-mothballing" them from warehouses would pose a logistical problem but noted the technology had been successfully used around the world, including in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria destroyed cell towers in the country.