Google Will Install WiFi Across India’s Train Stations

One of the goals of Google’s Project Loon is to bring internet access to parts of the world where access might be hard to come by. This covers rural areas in developing countries where the infrastructure has not yet been built. So what about developing countries and urban areas? Does Project Loon cover that?

While Project Loon might not necessarily cover urban areas, this is something Google is looking into. According to a recent announcement by Google, they have revealed that they have entered into a partnership with Indian Railways in which the former will be installing WiFi across 400 train stations in India.

According to Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai, their plan will see the initial installation across 100 of the busiest train stations before the end of 2016, before moving on to the remaining promised 300 stations. Even though the initial rollout is a quarter of what Google ultimately promises, it will still have a huge impact as it will give WiFi access to more than 10 million people passing through the station everyday.

Pichai notes, “This will rank it as the largest public Wi-Fi project in India, and among the largest in the world, by number of potential users. It will also be fast—many times faster than what most people in India have access to today, allowing travelers to stream a high definition video while they’re waiting, research their destination, or download some videos, a book or a new game for the journey ahead.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General, Web
Tags: Google, WiFi