Mumbai Central turns into Wi-Fi zone, courtesy Google power

RailTel expects around 100,000 people to use the free facility daily

A giant clock at Mumbai Central railway station was showing five o'clock in the evening when 19-year-old Shraddha Parte, a student from nearby Navneet College looked at the free Wi-Fi signboards hanging from the high roofs, designed by British architect Claude Batley.

Within minutes, she logged into the Wi-Fi network and started surfing through her Facebook timeline. "This is faster than my regular mobile internet pack!" she said while accessing photos of her friends over the social networking site.

On Friday, Mumbai residents got to know about the free internet initiative by RailTel Corporation in association with Google. The project was announced last September when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Google headquarters in Silicon Valley. Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai had said last month that free Wi-Fi would be available at 100 railway stations by the end of this year, and would be rolled out at 400 stations eventually.

The free internet service, a favourite announcement by ministers these days, certainly grabs attention in a country where telecom companies are gearing up to make money by providing high speed internet over mobile phones. Google said the speed of its free internet would be world-class.

"Today is a historic day for internet in India. The speed you can get here is better than any other internet service providers'," said Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director of Google Southeast Asia at the launch ceremony.

R K Bahuguna, chairman and managing director of RailTel said, "Affordable smartphones have made it possible for the common man to experience the power of internet."

RailTel Corp, an arm of Indian Railways, is one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure providers in the country, owning a pan-India optic fibre network along the railway tracks. A user simply has to connect to the RailWire Wi-Fi network and go to railwire.co.in. The user then keys in his mobile number. A one-time password then connects him to the free internet.

"Our tests show that one can get a browsing speed of up to 30 MB per second. Though we expect around 100,000 people to use the facility, they won't be using it at a single point of time," said a RailTel official.

"I checked my mail, downloaded an app and watched news," said Bharat Patel, a Surat-based diamond trader who shuttles between Mumbai and Surat.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu said like internet facility, the government is ready to provide all facilities by introducing modern amenities to train passengers. "Railways will develop the infrastructure by accessing funds from World Bank," he said at the launch ceremony.

However, some people said the speed was not as good as claimed. "The connectivity is fast, but it is not consistent at all locations," said Darshan Wadikar, owner of a digital forensics firm.