LAGOS, April 8 – Croatia-based Media King Group is preparing to launch a cloud-powered public WiFi network in Nigeria, marking its first large-scale expansion into Africa as it seeks to test a new model for high-density connectivity.
The company, founded in 2017 by Darko Kraljević, plans to deploy the system through a local partnership led by Nigerian entrepreneur Charles Okpaleke, with initial rollouts expected later this year. Nigeria is positioned as the entry point for a broader expansion across the continent.
Media King’s model shifts network processing from physical access points to a centralised cloud system, allowing traffic management, routing and bandwidth allocation to be handled remotely.
The approach is designed to reduce infrastructure costs and improve performance in environments where conventional WiFi networks often struggle with heavy demand.
The company said the system has already been deployed in Croatia across high-traffic locations such as public transport systems, hospitals and commercial centres. In Nigeria, early deployments are expected to focus on densely populated urban areas as well as underserved communities with limited broadband access.
Unlike previous public WiFi efforts backed by global technology firms, which have faced challenges around scalability and sustainability, Media King plans to offer free access to users, with revenue expected to come from advertising, public sector use cases and data-driven services.
The rollout will also operate within Nigeria’s regulatory framework for internet service providers, which requires licensing and registration of public WiFi hotspots.
Media King said it will work through local partnerships and existing infrastructure to meet these requirements.
The company is also exploring the use of satellite connectivity to extend coverage to remote areas without fibre networks.
