Google's free Wi-fi now at 400 Indian railway stations
New Delhi, June 7: Google has successfully completed its public Wi-Fi programme to provide India's railway stations with free internet, with Dibrugarh in Assam becoming 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.
"Bringing high speed connectivity to millions of Indians across railway stations has been an incredible journey and underscores the importance of investing in public Wi-Fi as a crucial step in getting high quality internet to everyone in India," K. Suri, Director, Partnership India, Next Billion Users, Google India, said in a statement.
"With over eight million monthly unique users connecting to the network, this is a lighthouse project for India and every growing economy that is looking to bring the benefit of connectivity to everyone in their country," he added.
Offered as a free utility service under the brand name "RailWire", users have 30 minutes of free access to the internet, in which they can on an average consume 350 MB of data per session.
"Railway stations are a microcosm that is India and creating a digital inclusion platform is in line with the vision of our Prime Minister and Digital India initiatives of the Ministry of Railways," said K. Manohar Raja, Executive Director-Enterprise Business at RailTel.
Over 35 per cent of users on the network are first time Wi-Fi users. Interestingly, over 50 per cent of users accessing the internet multiple times a day highlight that they work to pursue their occupation from the train stations.
Within the first year of the project, 100 of the busiest railway stations across India were made internet-friendly.
In the last year and a half, 300 new stations were added across the length and breadth of the country, the statement said.
As part of the Next Billion Users initiative, Google is now building on the success of RailTel project to expand the public Wi-Fi outside train stations, into Indian cities and around the world.
Google Station, the public Wi-Fi platform, that amplifies Google's vision to bring the best in class Wi-Fi experience to more places, is now also live in Pune.
RailTel is exploring sustainable ways to provide Wi-Fi across all stations on Indian Railways and also spread high-speed connectivity to homes by the collaborative entrepreneurship model of RailWire, the statement said.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
