‘Station’ a program launched by Google in 2015 as an initiative to get more Indians online is coming to an end. The Company offered free Wifi access at 400 railway station and 5000 locations worldwide. Free Wifi by Google service is live in Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The Free Wifi by Google Program will wind up this year.
Free Wifi program needed to be a sustainable business plan. In 2015 it seemed to be sustainable enough, but today it is more difficult than ever to make it work. Google Partnered with many Companies in different countries. Each had different infrastructure and requirements. In India RailTel, Pune Smart City, Indian Railways were the key players. In South Africa, Think WIfi was the leader.
The high price of internet access in 2015 generated a need for free limited wifi access to bring growing markets online. Google tried to monetize the users of free wifi to generate revenue to power the project. Google said that it is working with partners to transition existing sites to useful resources for the community. In India, RailTel Confirmed to Techcrunch that free wifi will still work in India. However, will there be any expansion of the program from the government side is not yet clear?
In South Africa, Google confirmed to Business Insider that it will transfer operations to ThinkWifi “Who will carry out the project independently.” Think Wifi confirmed that the program is here to stay and shall continue. The Station service was widely popular with over 8 million users per month and average data usage of 350MB per session. Google will wind all its operations regarding Google Station Project by the end of this year. What are your opinions on free wifi access? Let me know in Comments.
Be First to Comment