Google seems to be looking to get more people online more often, introducing a service called Google Wifi Passport that just launched in Jakarta, Indonesia. The service allows you to access participating hotspots throughout the city and is currently exclusive to Android devices.
The app can be installed for free from the Play Store. The service provides users with up to 3 GB of data per day, and up to 10 GB per month. Users purchase vouchers (like a prepaid recharge voucher we might purchase here in Australia), to use when they go online at a participating hotspot. There’s also a free option for users just starting out. Vouchers must be used within 60 days of purchase.
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While Google has experimented with free citywide wi-fi in its home town of Mountain View and in San Francisco, California, this might be the technology giant’s answer for large, congested cities where 3G coverage can often be slow or unreliable. Payment and support for the service appears to be run locally by Indomog, an Indonesian company that also sells cards and vouchers for various games and services.
Google’s provided a map of participating hotspots on their site, so if you’re heading to Jakarta and will be staying in the right area, you might want to give Google Wifi Passport a try – feel feee to tip us and let us know how you get on.
It remains to be seen if Wifi Passport will make it here to Australia, but it seems like another great idea by Google to keep people online and connected. Of course, the fact that Google needs to get more people online, more often, to continue to make money isn’t lost on us, either…
Would you use a Google-backed public Wifi network? Let us know in the comments!
I see a big future for something like this. Imagine travelling to USA and rather than buying a local SIM for local data, you connect to WiFi Passport. It would save money, time and hair. Furthermore, it would negate the need to purchase a local SIM thus removing the frustrations associated with incompatible smartphones and such. Like @deanomalino:disqus, I would use this service as regardless of what Google charge, it will be a lot cheaper than Roaming Data.
Yes, yes I would.