Google completes target of free Wi-fi at 400 Indian railway stations

New Delhi: Search engine giant Google has successfully completed its target to provide public Wi-Fi programme at 400 India`s railway stations with free internet. Dibrugarh in Assam has become the 400th station to go live on Thursday.

Google had, in collaboration with Railtel, launched free Wi-Fi services to 400 railway stations as a key initiative under the government`s Digital India programme in 2016.

“Today, we’re proud to announce that Dibrugarh railway station in Assam state, northeast India is the 400th train station in India to be powered by public Wi-Fi. There are now over 8 million people getting online with Google Station every month. On average, people consume 350MB of data per session, roughly the size of a half hour television episode and over half of the people using Google Station engage in multiple online sessions a day. Some are watching videos, some are chatting with friends, but like Shrinath and Helen, they are all actively seeking that Wi-Fi connection to get things done during their day,” wrote Caesar Sengupta, VP, Next Billion Users Team.

Within the first year of the project's launch, 100 of the busiest railway stations across India were brought online, enabling 15,000 people to experience the internet for the first time every day, it said.

The service, which offers thirty minutes of free access to the internet, saw users consuming about 350 MB of data per session on an average. While majority of the users are in the 19-34 age group, efforts to help older and first time users with onground support staff has helped millions to experience the internet for the first time.