Google extends free internet service through WiFi to 10 railway stations

NEW DELHI: Google has extended free internet service through WiFi to 10 railway stations as part of its tie up with Railtel, the internet provider arm of Indian Railways.

After the first launch at Mumbai Central last year, the high speed wireless broadband service now covers stations in Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Ranchi, Raipur, Vijayawada, Kacheguda (Hyderabad), Ernakulum Jn (Kochi) and Vishakhapatnam, providing internet to over 1.5 million people.

"As internet adoption grows in India, easy and affordable access to high-speed networks is the real need of the hour," said Gulzar Azad, Head of Access Project, Google India.

We are scaling up our efforts to roll out the network quickly to cover some of smaller stations where connectivity is much more limited, he added.

Google and RailTel will take the total number of covered stations to 100 within this year, which will be a fifth of the number announced by CEO Sundar Pichai in December 2015's visit to India.

Chairman and Managing Director of Railtel RK Bahuguna said, “As outlined by the Hon’ble Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, - modernising and improving the amenities available to passengers of Indian Railways is big part of our focus.

While the service will be free for a reasonable amount of time, the long-term goal is to make this project self-sustainable to allow for expansion to more stations and places, with RailTel and other partners, the chairman added.