Tech Giant, Google, has launched its free Wi-Fi service for Nigerians, the Google Station, in Ikeja, Lekki and other parts of Lagos.
The company’s country director in Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, said this on Thursday at the second Google for Nigeria event, which took place in Lagos.
“It is live in some locations already like the MMA 2, Ikeja City Mall, The Palms Lekki, Computer Village and the University of Lagos (UNILAG),” she told Channels Television.
She also stated that Google is open to collaborations with partners within the telecoms space, adding that it has already launched the Google Station with Nigeria’s largest fibre network providers, 21st Century.
“We are launching Google Station in Nigeria and we are open to working with partners within the telecoms space; telecom operators and ISPs.
“We’re kicking it off with a partnership with 21st Century to launch Google Station in Lagos,” she said.
Also, according to her, the free Wi-Fi service will be launched in 200 locations in five cities across Nigeria by the end of 2019.
Additionally, Google says it is launching a search experience in Nigeria that allows users to explore health conditions based on symptoms, as well as recipe search for anyone who needs a little food inspiration.
The company said the developments are aimed at helping more Nigerians and Africans, benefit from the opportunities the web has to offer.
It also made other announcements which included an update of several products from its “Go” initiative, which were launched last year.
The Go product suite aims to give people with low bandwidth connections and low-RAM devices the best possible Google experience.
The new features include Google Go which will allow web pages to be read out loud while highlighting each word so users can follow along.
Others include: YouTube Go where users will be able to browse downloaded YouTube Go videos, saved as .yt files, right from the gallery on their phones, Google Maps Go and Android Go
Listing some of its other achievements, the company said it has trained over 2.5 million of the 10 million Africans it had promised to train by 2022, under its Digital Skills Programme.
It also said it has trained 9,000 Africans in mobile app development, adding that the Launchpad Accelerator Africa initiative graduated 12 promising start-ups from across the continent in June.
