NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, August 25, 2017

Google is launching its public Wi-Fi program, which offers free connectivity at railway stations and other locations such as universities, in Indonesia, the company announced today.

The Indonesia launch is the first expansion of ‘Google Station’ — as the program is called — since it debuted in India some 18 months ago.

The project is quite simple, it offers a free way to get online with a decent quality internet connection. The idea is that beyond making it easy to get public Wi-Fi — because let’s face it, it is usually a struggle — Google Station offers connectivity those who might otherwise be unable to afford it, or perhaps even unaware of it entirely.

Google works with a range of partners that include ISPs, venue owners and system integrators on the project. It also enlists the help of ISPs and device makers to help get support and optimization for the networks on phones/phone connections themselves and reduce costs.

Photo courtesy of Water.org.