Unfortunately, that's already reality in some areas with usable (though not great) LTE coverage. Having a more direct LOS to the balloon is a significant mitiga

Unfortunately, that's already reality in some areas with usable (though not great) LTE coverage. Having a more direct LOS to the balloon is a significant mitigating factor. There's also a factor not being noted here. The population at which a cell tower is feasible may drop substantially if the uplink consists of pointing an antenna at these balloons, increasing the number of relatively tiny villages that can have semi-conventional LTE service.