Google is all set to bring free high speed WiFi access to almost 400 railway stations through out India. While this comes in joint collaboration with Indian Railways, the service will be using Google Fiber project, popularly known to provide fast broadband in the USA.
Now, this service by Google is said to be expanded to Indian cities under the name 'Project Nilgiri'.
Google has collaborated with RailTel for the platform and infrastructure to get started with the project. With this initiative, Google and Indian Railways are jointly aiming to set up WiFi hotspots across select Railway Stations through out the nation to offer seamless connectivity to passengers. At present companies like MTS and oxygen are providing Wi-Fi connectivity at selected railway & metro stations in urban regions, But with the execution of project Nilgiri , the services will spread across india.Besides this,Indian Railway provides Wi-Fi connectivity in moving trains for select routes like Rajdhani express via satellite communication technology. But in the expansion plans of the second phase, cutting edge technology will be used to expand this facility in most of the trains across india.
It is also being said the service will be allowing users to access free Internet at high speeds for first 34 minutes and later the speed will reduce. However, the connectivity will remain.This definitely looks to be a very interesting initiative and also is a step closer to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India. However, there is no official date given by the railways as to when it will commence but it is expected that the first phase of the project shall be up and running in a span of 4 months.
