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The Google Station Initiative is already airing in five countries around the world and will connect millions of users via 200 Wi-Fi hotspots spread across five cities in Nigeria a year from now, the company said Thursday during its Google for Nigeria event. Google is not deploying its Loon Moonshot Project to provide connectivity, but is partnering with 21st Century Nigerian fiber optic telecommunications service provider to deploy Wi-Fi spots in public places such as colleges, shopping malls, markets and bus stations.
The tech giant does not pay the service provider and the owners of the sites for Internet access, but they will share the revenue generated by the use of Google Station.
Google was recently hit with a $ 5 billion fine by the European Union. The EU has fined Google for unfairly pushing its apps on smartphone users and thwarting competitors.
The Next Billion Users
The fast Wi-Fi project is an essential part of the Next Billion Users project produced for the next billion Internet users, the company said. And the company has eyes riveted on emerging markets such as Brazil, Indonesia, India and Nigeria to attract more users online.
The future of the Internet is in the hands of the next billion users – the latest generation of Internet According to the project director, Caesar Sengupta, users need to connect to smartphones in countries like Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria. "The next billion users are already changing the Internet in three ways:" Foreword to the launch in Nigeria, the Google Station service was available in India, Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand.
Google said that it needs a service, a state of mind, an ubiquitous computing instinct. The providers and owners of sites must become partners before they can get into other countries of the continent.
To convince potential partners, Google offers monetization opportunities to sustain the project. ons to improve and expand access to Nigeria and across Africa; these launches demonstrate our commitment to Africa through products designed to help Africans make the most of the Internet, "said Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, National Director. from Google Nigeria
. -Fi, which was launched in Nigeria in November 2017. Express Wi-Fi, also available in Kenya, Tanzania, India and Indonesia, aims to reduce the cost of Internet access.
At the launch last year, Uche Ofodile, Africa Regional Chief, Facebook Express Wi-Fi said that the initiative aims to reduce barriers to connectivity such as limited infrastructure and high data costs, give more people, such as entrepreneurs and small business developers, the opportunity to connect and build community.
'The cost of the data is high & # 39;
Nigerian tech developer and senior consultant, Gbola Han Alli believes that Google is embarking on this project in Nigeria because its business model depends on the accessibility of the Internet.
"Africa is a largely untapped market and so it makes sense for them to try to secure the next billion users." He thinks this initiative will benefit Nigerians who are using Internet for the first time and to those who can not afford the high cost of data in Nigeria.
According to the Web Foundation's Accessibility Report 2017, only 17% of Nigerians with access to mobile Internet have access to public Wi-Fi and the cost of a 1GB prepaid data package represents about 8% of Nigeria's average monthly income while the mobile broadband penetration rate is less than 12%
. its users can access its services despite the high cost of data, Google has also unveiled new applications as part of its Go initiative targeting Internet users with low bandwidth connections and available low RAM.
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