Cheap Wi-Fi on the Go: Courtesy of Google East Africa

Wazi Wi-Fi initiativeis a brainchild of Google in partnership with local East African ISP providers such as Wananchi online.  The purpose of this project is to increase Internet penetration in East Africa and to facilitate maximum utilization of the region’s bandwidth capacity. What started as a project based in Nairobi and Mombasa, is gaining national and regional importance following expression of interest by major stakeholders to join the initiative.

Browsing on the go in Kenya is now a reality

Many establishments have been grafted into this project. There are a number of Nairobi restaurants that are part and parcel of the Wazi Wi-Fi initiative. Patrons of such restaurants will have the privilege to browse from the comfort of a hotel.

National and regional rollout underway

 This project is set to cover every major city in East Africa. This will be done by Google partnering with as many regional internet providers as possible. There are many telecoms companies that have expressed willingness to be part of this initiative.

The roll out started in the latter months of 2012 in Nairobi and Mombasa. As at October 2013, more than 400 hotspots have been deployed in over 200 locations.

Local payment options supported

Kenyan subscribers can pay via the local M-Pesa platform. Also, it is possible to pay using debit and credit cards. Charges are as low as Ksh 50 per day. Those who want to test the service will be given 10 free minutes on a particular day.

How the whole initiative is being carried out

This arrangement brings a number of ISPs under an umbrella called Wazi Wi-Fi. Subscribers can access the internet from the platform of an ISP that is available from a particular location. It is possible for subscribers to benefit from various wireless distributors from a single channel. All that is needed is a single login to Wazi Wi-Fi platform and someone will access the internet at the speed of light.

Increasing east Africa internet penetration

Personnel of Google East Africa never run short of ideas in relation to increasing internet penetration in Kenya and other EA countries. Of late, the talk that has been emanating from western media is that Google plans to connect 6 billion people found in rural East Africa and other rural regions of the world, to the internet using blimps and balloons. Initiatives like Wazi Wi-Fi are only suitable in places where there are urban broadband networks.  High altitude platforms like balloons have to be used to facilitate internet connectivity in rural areas.

Kenya’s broadband seriously underutilized

 National internet capacity of Kenya exceeds 8400G. Presently, only 6 percent of this is being utilized. Actually, Kenya does not need 4G when the 3G is currently being underutilized. Wazi Wi-Fi project will facilitate maximum utility of the region’s broadband capacity.

Google is playing a pivotal role in the region when it comes to increasing internet penetration. Wazi Wi-Fi is a first in East Africa. It is meant to offer urban dwellers with faster, cheaper internet.