Google devises plan to bring wireless networks to developing countries

Google is planning to bring wireless internet to developing countries using new technologies it is working on. With plans to provided billions of people with internet access, Google has new proposals to help build and run these wireless networks.

So how will Google do this? Several technologies and partnering tactics are involved in Google’s plan, and may vary depending on the area of the network. The goal is to serve areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia to dwellers outside of major cities where wired Internet connections are unavailable or particularly slow according to The Wall Street Journal. Using technologies such as satellites, blimps, microcells and more Google believes their plan will work. In efforts to cultivate the plan, it will work with businesses like local telecommunications firms and equipment providers, as well as foreign government regulators to allow for such networks. For example, Google has partnered with Microsoft to bring foreign leaders and wireless-industry entrepreneurs together to brainstorm ways to open up broadcast airwaves for public use to facilitate their plan. Google and Microsoft will hold a two-day conference in Dakar, Senegal next week to present these ideas to several countries.

While there are several benefits to Google’s plans, there are concerns about its motives. Connecting more people to the internet globally generates more potential users of the Google search engine and the company’s other services such as YouTube, Google Play media and app store. Additionally, it would have the opportunity to collect more data on consumer behavior, allowing for more personalized advertising and perhaps targeting of individuals with specific online advertisements, where 87% of its annual $50 billion revenue comes from. By gathering all of this data, Google could construct a much less expensive business than traditional carriers today. With side plans to create its own high-speed internet company and Wi-Fi network, expand on mobile devices, and buy rights to airwaves owned by Clearwire Corporation competitors, investors, and several governments worry about what this new plan to globalize wireless internet will mean.

Still, the opportunities and advantages of Google’s plan for the emerging countries involved are enormous. According to Forbes, wireless network availability in developing countries could lead to significant GDP growth year by year due as communication allows for technological adaption. Furthermore, the introduction of fibre broadband is much too expensive – tens of billions of dollars – for developing countries to afford, so the implementation of broadband will save these emerging markets money and stimulate their economy as well.

Even though Google could turn an immense profit, their plan also holds the possibility of pulling millions out of poverty. First though, they must develop and deploy their new plan.

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