Google to provide hundreds of Indian train stations with free Wi-Fi
Google will install free Wi-Fi at approximately 400 stations in India. According to the American company, one billion people live in the country who do not yet have access to the internet. By 2016, at least the 100 busiest stations in India must be equipped with Wi-Fi.
On the Google blog, Google CEO Sundar Pichai says that 100 million Indians have started using the internet in the past year, making India the second largest population using the internet. China is number one. With the help of Wi-Fi at Indian stations, part of the remaining one billion inhabitants should also be able to access the internet regularly.
To bring internet access to the Indian stations, Google is partnering with Indian Railways and RailTel, which are building and operating fiber optic lines adjacent to the tracks. By the end of 2016, according to Google, the 100 busiest stations will be equipped with Wi-Fi, which should translate into 10 million extra people online. Shortly afterwards, the three hundred other stations must follow. According to Google, it is one of the largest public Wi-Fi projects in the world.
The internet connection must be fast enough to stream HD video, or download a book, game or video while travelers wait for their train. In India, among others, it is possible to download YouTube videos in the app to watch at a later time, when there may be no internet access. This feature was previously available worldwide, but was removed from the YouTube app in 2014. Google is also working on a version of Maps where maps and planned routes will be available offline, but this feature may also only be introduced in areas like India. Now offline navigation in Maps is still limited usable.
This isn’t the only public Wi-Fi project that Google is working on. In other areas, the company has been working on Project Loon for some time. In it, Google tries to bring public Wi-Fi to remote and inhospitable areas by means of weather balloons that hover over a certain area for a longer period of time. Those weather balloons are connected to the internet via the local telecom providers and serve as LTE masts.