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By Didi Akinyelure
LAGOS (Reuters) – Google on Thursday launched a network of free Wi-Fi access points in Nigeria as part of its efforts to increase its presence in the most populous nation d & # 39; Africa.
US technology company Alphabet Inc. entered into a partnership with 21st Century, Nigeria's cable network provider, to provide its public Wi-Fi service, Google Station, in six locations in the commercial capital Lagos, including 39, airport of the city.
The penetration of the Internet is relatively low in Nigeria. According to World Bank Data, 25.7% of the population used the Internet in 2016.
The poor internet infrastructure is a major challenge for companies operating in the country, which is the largest oil producer in Africa . Broadband services are either unreliable or unaffordable for many of Nigeria's 190 million inhabitants.
"We are deploying the service in Lagos today, but we plan to expand it quickly to other sites," said Anjali Joshi, vice president of Google for Product Management, Reuters, Lagos.
The company said it was planning to collaborate with ISPs to reach millions of Nigerians in 200 public spaces, across five cities by the end of 2019
She stated that she would generate cash in Nigeria ads in the login portal. Google has not disclosed the amount invested in the new service in Nigeria.
The technology firm said it plans to share revenue with its partners to help them maintain and deploy the Wi-Fi service, but it has not disclosed the split of advertising revenue expected .
Africa's rapid population growth, declining data costs and the mbadive adoption of mobile phones have made it an attractive investment prospect for technology companies.
Nigeria is the fifth country to launch Google Station. Similar services have been launched in India, Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand.
The service is intended for countries with rapidly expanding populations. The United Nations estimates that Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world, after China and India, by 2050.
"Many people who find that the data are too expensive for use them use it, "said Joshi. "In India, we have tens of millions of users, and nearly a million in Mexico."
However, many do not reveal how much the continent 's markets are profitable or whether they are making money to companies.
Last year, Google announced plans to train 10 million Africans to online skills within five years. He also said that he was aiming to provide unfair support of $ 3 million to African start-ups.
Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley this month to meet with Managing Director Sundar Pichai.
(Edited by Alexis Akwagyiram and Edmund Blair)
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