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Google has revealed that it’s extending its public Wi-Fi service, called Google Station, beyond India.
The internet giant first unveiled the Google Station initiative back in September 2015, announcing plans to install high-speed public Wi-Fi in 400 train stations across India. While that program is well underway, with dozens of Google-backed Wi-Fi hotspots dotted across the country, the company has now partnered with local telecommunication companies FiberStar and CBN to launch the service in four locations in Indonesia.
With a population of more than 250 million people, Indonesia represents a major market for Google, but with internet penetration of just 50 percent, there remains a huge gap in terms of getting people online and, more importantly for Google, using internet services. Google Station hotspots will be arriving at “hundreds of venues” across Java and Bali over the next year, the company noted.
The rollout feeds into Google’s grand plan to target the “next billion” internet users, in service to which the company has launched a number of products with emerging markets specifically in mind. In India last year, Google launched a new “offline first” YouTube app called YouTube Go, built from the ground up to work where connectivity is patchy. Google has also now revealed that YouTube Go will also be landing in Indonesia soon.
