A study reveals, more than the combined population of the whole of Australia travel daily via Indian Railways in India. As such, Indian Railways have become a lifeline of India. People spend more time at stations looking for the ways to kill the time and can be better than free, high-speed Wi-Fi for bored commuters and refreshment offering vendors. Yes, Google in partnership with RailTel, the telecom arm of the Indian Railways, launched free high-speed public Wi-Fi service at Mumbai Central station, this Friday.
Google offers Free, High-Speed Wi-Fi
The availability of affordable smartphones have made it possible for the common man to experience the power of Internet but free Wi-Fi is rare sight to witness across India. Most of the country’s internet users pay for personal access and disappointingly have to rely on slow-loading smartphone connectivity. Google plans to roll out this project to 100 stations across the country by year-end.
Praising the efforts of Google, Railtel Chairman and MD R.K. Bahuguna said in a statement:
With our partnership with Google, we are very confident of rolling out a robust, scalable service at railway stations in the near future”.
Google South East Asia and India VP & Managing Director Rajan Anandan added further:
“We are delighted to launch India’s first high-speed public Wi-Fi service in partnership with Indian Railways. By end of this year, over 10 million people will be able to enjoy this experience at 100 stations spread across the country”.
The project that has just started will eventually cover 400 railway stations across India. The next four stations going online will be Allahabad, Patna, Jaipur and Ranchi.
With more than millions using the railways every day, it is imperative for the organization to offer Internet connectivity at train stations where people cannot afford high-speed access.
The Wi-Fi will be available to any user who has a working mobile connection on his smartphone.
