Google Station aims to improve public Wi-Fi in India

At the second edition of its signature Google for India event, the company announced the Google Station Wi-Fi platform, a platform built specifically for India aimed at expanding access to the Internet for users in India.

Inspired by the success of the partnership with RailTel and Indian Railways to provide Wi-Fi at railway stations in India, Caesar Sengupta, Vice-President, Next Billion Users, announced the new platform.

We asked ourselves, why stop at railway stations. What if we could bring connectivity to more people? By getting wifi into more malls, bus stops, city centers, cafes, million more will be able to learn and find info they need, not just in India but anywhere.

Google Station will work with partners to roll out Wi-Fi hotspots in public places like malls, cafes, workplaces, and universities, allowing more people in India and around the world fast, reliable, and safe Wi-Fi in places they spend time. Google Station will make it easier for partners to setup, maintain, and monetize their Wi-Fi networks in places with Google Fiber. “Some will make it free, some show ads, some will charge users,” Sengupta said.

Google introduced India’s first high speed public Wi-Fi network in partnership with RailTel in January 2016, and have extended the service to 52 railway stations till now. According to Google, more than 3.5 million monthly users enjoy the Wi-Fi access today with 15,000 people coming online for the first time every day through these stations.

More Google India announcements:

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai discusses trials and successes in India
• Google Chrome gets Data Saver for video, a new downloads experience and more
• Google unveils YouTube Go for offline viewing and sharing
• Google Assistant in Hindi is coming by the end of the year

More details about Google Station are available on station.google.com.