Project Loon trying to restore internet in Puerto Rico

A fleet of ultra-thin polyethylene film balloons manufactured by Raven Aerostar could beam broadband internet to Puerto Rico, where damage to the telecom infrastructure caused by Hurricane Maria has been hampering recovery efforts for three weeks.

The Federal Communication Commission granted search engine giant Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., an experimental license for Project Loon to provide emergency cellular service to millions of people on the island.

About 90 percent of the U.S. territory with 3.4 million people remains without power, and 81 percent of cell phone antennas, 66 percent of cell towers and 47 percent of telecommunications service are yet to be restored, according to Oct. 11 updates from a Puerto Rican government website called statusPR.com.

Project Loon would help on all restoration fronts. Designed to provide wireless internet to remote and under-served areas, the project launched in 2012 with the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Raven Aerostar providing the super-pressure balloons to carry Google's technology through the stratosphere.

Raven's customized film material can withstand temperatures as low as minus 58º F, allowing the balloons to be maneuvered above connectivity obstacles like mountains and clouds. In May, the company's Loon balloons helped deliver internet to thousands in flooded areas of Peru.

Sean Turgeon, business and communication specialist for Raven Aerostar, told Plastics News that the company is declining comment at this time about its role in Project Loon in Puerto Rico.

Google still needs to partner with a wireless company before it can send signals to peoples' devices. A spokesperson for the Mountain View, Calif., company has reported progress on this step.

Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, leaving almost everyone in the dark, killing at least 34, tearing roofs off houses, washing away bridges, and toppling trees and utility poles, which have blocked travel and communication. The devastation and inability to coordinate aid has slowed delivery of relief supplies and hindered restoration efforts for disaster teams, hospitals, businesses and residents alike.

Project Loon has already obtained consent agreements to use the land mobile radio (LMR) spectrum in the 900MHz band from existing carriers operating within Puerto Rico, according to the FCC. Chairman Ajit Pai urged wireless carriers to cooperate, saying "innovative approaches" are needed to restore connectivity to millions of Puerto Ricans still without access to much-needed communication services.

"Project Loon is one such approach," Pai said in a statement about the Oct. 7 approval of the emergency license. "It could help provide the people of Puerto Rico with access to cellular service to connect with loved ones and access life-saving information. I'm glad the FCC was able to grant this experimental license with dispatch and I urge wireless carriers to cooperate with Project Loon to maximize this effort's chances of success."

A division of Raven Industries Inc., Raven Aerostar expects its partnership with Google to grow, and its outlook for stratospheric balloons is strong, according to its annual report for fiscal 2017. The unit has a new customer and sales to Google for Project Loon should increase again in fiscal 2018, the report says.

However, the division's overall outlook is mixed with higher sales of the custom balloons offsetting lower sales of components called aerostats. Net sales for fiscal 2017 were down $2.3 million to $34.1 million for Raven Aerostar.

In a presentation to investors, the company breaks down the Raven Aerostar unit into stratospheric products, which saw sales of $19.7 million; radar sensors and data analytics sales at $11.3 million; and sales of other services and protective garments at $5.8 million, for the trailing 12 months that ended July 31.

The division accounted for 12 percent of sales for Raven Industries, which is also made up of Raven Applied Technology and Raven Engineered Films. In all, Raven Industries showed a profit of $78.2 million on net sales of $277.4 million.

The Food and Drug Administration announced it is taking steps to mitigate the hurricane's impact on the pharmaceutical and medical device sector, which includes some 70 U.S. companies. About 80 percent of the drug products manufactured on the island are consumed by U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and all 50 states, FDA says, making it a vital production base to maintain.

In Puerto Rico, FDA is keeping a close watch on possible shortages of critical medical components. The agency says it is monitoring a list of 40 pharmaceutical and biological drug products but it hasn't released details about any specific items.

Medical processors such Becton Dickinson and Co., which makes syringes and diagnostic products, and Medtronics, which produces heart valves and insulin pumps, are located there. Many businesses are running on generators and it could take months to restore commercial power. Medtronic has four sites and all sustained some damage. Partial production using back-up generators resumed Oct. 2.

"We are extremely focused on restoring our manufacturing operations in Puerto Rico as quickly as possible, as well as prioritizing our available inventory to patient surgeries over large volume orders from customers," Chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak said in an Oct. 6 statement.

The business disruption could cost Medtronic $250 million in the fiscal 2018 second quarter, which closes Oct. 27, the statement also says.

FDA is trying to track production and shortages and offer options.

"In some cases, we're in daily communication with the companies to stay on top of the evolving challenges and to act quickly when we can to prevent drug and device shortages," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Oct. 6. "In urgent cases, when critical products are at issue, we've intervened over the last two weeks to help firms secure fuel to maintain production lines, get clearance to move logistical support into the island or finished goods to their recipients."

Most facilities that FDA officials have contacted have resumed only partial operations, Gottlieb said, and new shortages could arise.

"In the case of products we're most concerned about, FDA leadership is in contact with senior management teams," he said.