After five years in operation, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is reportedly shutting down its Express Wi-Fi program.
Meta’s Express Wi-Fi launched in 2016. It is designed to deliver low-cost internet services in developing countries, where forms of connectivity, like ADSL and fiber-optic, aren’t readily available; through partnerships with mobile operators, local communities, and businesses.
Also, It was created as an improved version of Meta’s failed Free Basics Program.
Currently, the service is active in over 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. A notice statement issued by Meta said it plans to gradually wind down the internet program by the end of 2022.
The statement further said, “Together with our partners, we helped expand public Wi-Fi access for people in more than 30 countries via the Express Wi-Fi platform. While we are concluding our work on this program to focus on developing other projects, we remain committed to working with partners across the telecom ecosystem to deliver better connectivity.”
However, The decision was announced roughly a year after Meta partnered with Eutelsat Konnect to expand the low-cost internet service in parts of Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, South Africa, and Uganda.
Eutelsat Konnect is a communications satellite operator designed by Thales Alenia Space in 2020 to provide broadband internet and communication coverage services to Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The move has stirred conversations about the future of internet projects in Africa by big corporations, especially considering Google pulled a similar move by shutting down its Project Loon in Kenya.
Meta’s different endeavours were part of its efforts to bridge the internet gap in Africa, where connectivity is lowest across the globe. Presently, only about 30% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population utilizes mobile internet, according to the 2021 GSMA mobile economy report.
Nonetheless, the end of the Express Wi-Fi program signifies a change of heart in Meta’s decision to deliver low-cost internet across Africa.
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Image Source : Meta Connectivity
