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Loon, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, said Tuesday that it’s launched a fleet of high-flying balloons over Kenya to beam internet signals down to the country’s population.

The launch marks the first commercial deployment of the technology, which up till now has been tested only in emergency situations, including three years ago in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria swept across the island. The deployment is also the first in Africa, the most underserved region in the world when it comes to internet access.

For the launch, Loon partnered Telkom Kenya to provide connectivity to its subscribers. Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth said the project will use about 35 balloons, (or flight vehicles, as the company calls them) to beam 4G LTE service.  The first launch service area covers around 50,000 square kilometers across western and central areas of the country, including its capital, Nairobi.

Loon has been testing in Kenya for several months and says the project has already connected 35,000 unique users to the internet, “although most didn’t realize it.” The company says that it achieved a downlink speed of 18.9Mbps back in June, along with an uplink speed of 4.74Mbps and a latency of 19ms. WhatsApp, YouTube viewing, and a host of other web platforms have been tested on its service.

“Loon doesn’t want to replace the existing infrastructure for wireless connections, but instead add to it”, says Westgarth. “Right now broadband is delivered via two “layers”: from the ground with cell towers and fiber-optic cables, and from space with satellites. Loon wants to build another layer in the stratosphere.”

The company has been criticized for launching its balloons in parts of the country that already have developed internet infrastructure and that some people in poorer areas of Kenya can’t afford the phones needed to connect to its 4G service.

In a blog post, Westgarth described Tuesday’s launch as “the laying of the foundation of a third layer of connectivity” “It was a long time in the making, and there is still a lot of work to be done to establish this new layer of connectivity.”