Google is said to be planning to focus their efforts on Wi-Fi networks instead of YouTube Accelerator in the regions it was launched, which has only been the Philippines since its debut in 2016. Google reportedly had plans to release YouTube Accelerator in other regions such as India, but their Wi-Fi efforts called Google Station will apparently be the focus for the country instead. Beyond India Google has plans to roll Google Station networks out in other Asian countries where internet service is slow, though the rumor doesn’t include details about any other countries at this time, which could mean that Google doesn’t know where they plan to move to with Google Station next.
Google’s plans for station outside of India are also not exactly new plans as Google announced that it would be working to expand Google Station outside of India back in September of 2016. With that being said it’s interesting that it’s been more than six months and Google still hasn’t officially confirmed any other countries where it’s considering a Google Station rollout. Unlike with Accelerator Google won’t be making any money from the hardware that’s required for the internet to work in locations where it’s set up, as Google won’t actually be selling the hardware. According to the rumor Google will instead be monetizing Station in a number of different ways and it will be advising the locations where it’s available on which equipment should be used.
In regards to the monetization, the rumor states that Google will have an online management console available that these Wi-Fi network operators will be able to purchase which is said to be a primary source of the revenue that Google Station will be bringing in. Google Station is just one way that Google has tried to make it easier for places with slow or minimal internet connections to get access to the web. Another way that Google has attempted to bring internet to places where it is either not available or too slow for heavy use is with Project Loon, which sees massive balloons floating around specifically target areas to essentially beam Wi-Fi internet down to the regions blow the balloon.