Google has launched the “Project Link” initiative in as part of its efforts to spread internet use to developing countries. Project Link will see to the installation of high-speed fiber-optic networks in areas where Internet access is limited or non-existent. The project has been initiated in Kampala in Uganda, which is one of the most densely populated cities in Africa and where Google has said connections were often restricted to “pre-broadband speeds.”
While delivering higher speeds to Kampala was the first step, Google’s aim is to establish a stronger internet infrastructure in Africa, “to deliver the speed and capacity that supports the latest and the greatest of the web”, as Google Access Field Director Kai Wulff stated in a company blog post.
Google hasn’t talked about expansion of the project, but given their recent activities it is expected that Kampala is the pilot for the program. Project Link is just one of several Google initiatives, including Project Loon (which will see weather balloons providing Wi-Fi to remote parts of the world) and a trial program that will take advantage of TV white space to provide wireless broadband in rural South African schools.
