Three railway stations get free Wi-Fi service

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday launched free Wi-Fi service at the railway stations at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Raipur in Chhattisgarh and Kacheguda in Telengana via videoconferencing here.

The service was commissioned by RailTel, a mini Ratna public sector undertaking, in association with Google for providing high-speed Internet to the commuters at these places.

"The RailTel will provide power and fibre network infrastructure while Google will provide the radio access network. The services will be provided under 'Railwire', the retail broadband distribution model of RailTel," a ministry statement said.

The minister said that the government planned to introduce the Wi-Fi service at all major railway stations in the country in three years.

"By this year-end, free Wi-Fi facility will be in place at 100 major railway stations. We will achieve our target of 400 stations in three years. Once in place, it will be the largest public Wi-Fi system in the world," Prabhu told reporters here.

By the end of 2016, railway stations at Allahabad, Bhopal, Pune, Ranchi, Ernakulum, Jaipur, Patna and Guwahati will have free Wi-Fi facility.

The Mumbai Central was the first railway station in the country with free Wi-Fi facility.

Last year, Google India and Indian Railways joined hands to introduce high-speed Wi-Fi network at 400 stations in the country.

--IANS

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