Google Stations in PH to wind down throughout 2020

Google Station, Google’s service that partners with telcos to provide free WiFi, will be winding down within the year.

Update: A Google representative reached out to us to provide more information about the reported shutdown of Google Stations. Google said that stations in the Philippines will wind down throughout 2020, with transition and migration plans. The reason for the stations winding down is because of the change in landscape and scalability. According to the company, it is not true that Google has not provided support resulting in revenue loss.

Below is Google’s official statement:

“In line with Google’s mission, we started Google Station in 2016 to help bring more people online. We’re humbled that our work has been able to help millions of people experience the power of the internet for the first time. However, the ecosystem has evolved since then–4G is getting prevalent in a number of markets and data prices are dropping globally. This, combined with the complex and varying technical requirements across partners and countries, makes it a challenge to scale and sustain Station. This has made us re-evaluate our plans and we have decided to wind down the program through 2020. We are working with our partners to support our users and them to gradually transition. We remain committed to look for ways to make the internet more accessible for users around the world.”

We have updated the title of this article to reflect the new information. Below is the original article that we wrote:

Currently, there are over 400 locations in the country powered by Google Stations, all of which are expected to shut down within the week. A foreign source from the Manila Bulletin stated that Google had not provided enough support to the platform. As a result, partnered telcos are losing money with the service. He also added: “There is not enough advertising revenue to sustain the partnership with telcos.” Google Stations already in place will be rebranded and converted by their partner telcos to provide their own services.

The report also says that Google Stations in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Nigeria, Brazil, and Vietnam will also shut down.

Source: Manila Bulletin