Google ends Station, its free Wi-Fi program in developing countries

[ad_1]

The experience lasted five years. Google announced on Monday February 17, 2020 that it will end this year its Station program, launched in 2015 and thought to facilitate access to the Internet in developing countries. TheIndia, where deployment has been the widest, has some 400 free WiFi access points in as many stations, the operation having taken place in conjunction with Indian Railways and RailTel. Seven other countries have also benefited from a more or less wide deployment with local partners: South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

8 MILLION USERS PER MONTH

At a milestone in 2018 on this project, Google announced that users used an average of 350 MB of data per connection, several times a day. While some use it for entertainment – watching series or talking with loved ones via messaging services – others have a much more existential use, using it for their health or education. Google takes the example of an Indian, Shrinath, who passed the civil servant exam in this way. An achievement for this man from the lower middle class.

According to Google, 8 million people have benefited from this connection each month. However, according to the company, the termination of its Google Station program is rather welcome news. Its vice president in charge of payments and "next billion users" (expression created to designate people who are getting access to the Internet), Caesar Sengupta estimated that the latter "No longer necessary, given the affordable prices of mobile data" in the countries concerned. Everything accelerated in India when the richest man in the country, Mukesh Ambani, launched the telecom operator Jio and practiced an aggressive pricing policy … which forced competition to line up. In just a few months, tens of millions of Indians were able to afford their first connection.

DIFFICULTIES IN MONETIZING THE SERVICE

Beyond good feelings, Google seeks to conquer the markets where it launched this program. All of them have enormous potential, being one of the most populous and least smart health connected countries in the world. If the argument of lower prices is quite audible to justify the stop, it should be noted that the Mountain View company has, on several occasions, expressed its difficulties in monetizing the service. For a time, it thus broadcast advertisements before each connection. With this abandonment, the question of the future of infrastructure and services arises. "We are working with our partners to develop these sites so that they remain a useful resource for the whole community", said Caesar Sengupta, who said that depending on different telecom operators in each market made it difficult to scale up Google Station.

Note that Google was not alone in this niche in India. After being tested in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Indonesia, Facebook marketed Express Wi-Fi there in early 2017 – when its predecessor Internet.org had been banned from the country for violating its rules on net neutrality. The program allows local players to sell affordable deals and extend Wi-Fi coverage faster.

[ad_2]