Several services take a major hit when disasters strike. With phone lines and electrical cables down, it will take time before services and utilities will be restored for consumers which would make life inconvenient.
Now, Loon is an Alphabet spinoff which provides LTE coverage through internet-relaying balloons. And in the recent 8.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Peru, Loon quickly sprung into action.
This isn't the first time Loon has provided connectivity following a disaster. It delivered internet to 100,000 people in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. But in that case, it took Loon four weeks to get the balloons online.
The difference in Peru is that Loon was already negotiating a commercial contract with international carrier Telefónica. In the past month, it began installing infrastructure and testing the balloons in the country, so it had some of the pieces in place.
(Image credit: iLighter/Flickr; Wikimedia Commons)