Google to bring free WiFi to Mexico

On Tuesday, Alphabet’s Google said that it will launch a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots across Mexico , part of the search giant’s effort to improve connectivity in emerging markets and put its products in the hands of more users.

Google Station

, an ad-supported network of Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic locations , is launching in Mexico with 56 hotspots and others planned, the company said.

Mexico

will be Google Station’s third market following India and Indonesia , and the first in Latin America .

Mexico has made great strides in connectivity since a 2013-2014 telecom reform intended to loosen the grip of billionaire Carlos Slim’s América Móvil , which has long dominated the market.

From 2013 to 2016

, the number of people accessing the Internet in Mexico rose by 20 million , according to a report last fall by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development . Still, the country lags behind other OECD nations in terms of internet access, the report said.

“We are finding that public Wi-Fi remains still a very important way to get online,” Anjali Joshi , a Vice president for Product Management at Google , told reporters.

She added that Google saw Mexico as a good entry point for the product in Latin America. Mexico-based SitWifi provided equipment for the hotspots .

Google’s initial batch of Wi-Fi zones is scattered across the country, from the Ciudad Juárez airport at the U.S. border to posh shopping centers in Mexico City .

Google Station

now counts roughly 8 million users a month in India , where the program began in 2016.

sg