Google Station goes beyond railways to smart cities

After getting millions of Indians online, with its RailTel Wi-Fi project — Google has announced its partnership with Larsen & Toubro, to bring 150 Google Station hotspots to Pune, as part of Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited’s Smart City project.

After successfully benefiting 7.7 mn user at over 270 Railway Station through its RailTel Wi-Fi project, Google for first time is deploying Google Station outside of the railways. Potentially, 3 million Punekars can now get online within seconds, to message friends, pay bills, shop online, watch music videos — and do millions of other things — at locations all around the city.

Vinay Goel, Product Management Director, Google Station said, “Today marks a big step for us as we expand Google Station hotspots from railways to cities. Our aim with Google Station is to  to bring fast Wi-Fi to more users in more places within India. We built Google Station to be both the highest-quality and easiest Wi-Fi service for users and the easiest for partners to deploy — and we think this makes Station a great connectivity partner for the growing number of Indian smart cities. We’re looking forward to helping people in Pune get fast, simple and secure access to everything the internet has to offer.”

Public Wi-Fi alone, does not make a city “smart” and therefore with reliable Internet connectivity across multiple central locations, people can now use their smartphones to make the most out of Pune’s other smart city services, which includes improved tracking of public buses, opportunities for digital learning, and participation in digital governance. Google hotspots will be available at public places like gardens, hospitals and police stations, helping people get access to free Wi-Fi.