Google abandons plans to provide wireless Internet in South Africa
February 20th 2020
The American company Google has decided not to continue its Google Station program, intended to provide wireless Internet connectivity in landlocked areas in South Africa. However, it had already been three months since the service was operational. Launched in Cape Town in November 2019, it already covered 125 areas in Langa, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Delft, Elsies River and Philippi.
According to Google, the decision to drop the adventure stems from constraints related to the telecom environment in South Africa. “Since our beginnings, the ecosystem has evolved, and with complex and variable technical requirements depending on the country and the partners, we reassessed our plans and decided to close the station in 2020,” said Google South Africa.
However, the program will not be finalized in view of the inherent strong social impact. Google plans to sell it to its South African partner Think WiFi.
“We will be working with Think WiFi on a service transition plan in their hands and will continue to support them until the end of 2020. We remain committed to finding ways to make the Internet more accessible to users around the world,” said Google Africa.
According to Janine Rebelo, President and CEO of Think WiFi, “the launch of the free Wi-Fi initiative in Western Cape has been more successful than expected and plans are already underway to deploy free Wi-Fi in the Eastern Cape, in Gauteng and in certain regions of Mpumalanga ”.
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