Google, Railways likely to tie up for Wi-Fi at 400 stations across country

Global Internet giant Google may join hands with Indian Railways to instal Wi-Fi connections at 400 stations across the country.

RailTel Corporation of India, a public sector unit (PSU) of Railways, will collaborate with Google.

The Railway Board has entrusted the railway PSU with this work, scheduled to be completed in four months.

Sources said Google has the expertise of working on optic fibre networks. RailTel has optic-fibre networks along the tracks across the country. This network covers 70 per cent of India’s population.

“We have been entrusted with the work,” RailTel Public Relation Manager Sucharita Pradhan told Deccan Herald. However, she denied disclosing the name of the company or companies, and said: “We are doing feasibility study at various locations at the moment.”
Currently, railways provides Wi-Fi facility at Bengaluru, New Delhi and Secunderabad railway stations at high speed.

RailTel's retail broadband distribution model RailWire is being used to provide Internet bandwidth through Wi-Fi at these places.

In this model of RailTel, the Wi-Fi facility is available to passengers on their mobile phones for the first 30 minutes without cost. The user may purchase scratch cards for use beyond 30 minutes. The cards, available at Wi-Fi Help Desks, are priced at Rs 25 for 30 minutes and Rs 35 for one hour and are valid for 24 hours.

Additional browsing time can also be purchased online using credit or debit cards.

A RailTel source said the PSU was also planning to enter the broadband market as it has a strong network across the country. Households that live near the rail network can get a broadband connection at cheaper rates.