Google now offers free Wi-Fi in 400 train stations in India

Google announced its joint project with Indian Railways and RailTel to bring public Wi-Fi to India’s train stations. The initiative began back in 2015, and now 400 train stops have free access to the internet. Caesar Sengupta, Google VP and Head of the Next Billion Users Team, said in a press release that the service is used by 8 million users monthly.

The milestone was published along with a video of a mother that uses the free Wi-Fi to provide better educational materials for her son. According to Sengupta, she is just one of the people that consume 350 MB of data per session and over half the people engage in multiple sessions per day.

The model that is officially called Google Station is already expanding in Mexico and Indonesia. Right now users get 30 minutes of high-speed data for free with ads. If they want to have 24-hour continuous access, they pay INR19 (about $0.30) or INR149 ($2.25) for a week-long ad-free internet.

The Google Station campaign is still unfinished and will expand away from train stations. Over 150 locations in Pune and Maharashtra have free Wi-Fi and “more Smart Cities are coming soon”.

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