Google's Free Wi-Fi in India Now Live in 100 Railway Stations; 15,000 New Users Connect to Web Everyday (mashable.com)

Last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company will be bringing free Wi-Fi to 100 railway stations in India by the end of 2016. The company began, what was the "the largest public Wi-Fi project in the world", in India earlier this year. Today, it announced its free Wi-Fi has reached 100th Indian railway station in the country. From a report: Google announced Thursday its free Wi-Fi is now working at the 100 busiest railway stations in India. Over five million people in the country latch onto Google's free internet service every month, with 15,000 of them accessing the internet for the first time in their lives every day, the company said. The growth of what Google described as "the largest public Wi-Fi project in the world" is in line with company's expectations. Interestingly, Google has partnered with Indian government-run RailTel ISP for free internet service, and it lets users access as much data as they want and visit whichever website they would like. This is in contrast to Facebook's Free Basics, which offered Indians access to select websites. The Indian government earlier this year banned Free Basics on the grounds of net neutrality. Nobody in India has an issue with Google's approach.

Comments

Every -space- day

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't "everyday" an adjective? I think it should be "every day" in the headline.

the services are easy to differentiate.

[nimbius]

facebook free basics: HELLO FOREIGN BROWN PEOPLE! we hear youre excited about THE AMERICAN INTENET. well we made an internet FOR YOU. LOG ON and then SURF 5 sites just like a REAL AMERICAN PERSON. SURFING IS WHAT AMERICANS DO. do you UN-DER-STAND?
Google free internet: heres internet, brought to you by a familiar provider. its free. use as much as you want. peace out.

Re:the services are easy to differentiate.

[WindBourne]

BTW, it is not foreign brown ppl. That is where the new google CEO is from. He is simply shutting down projects in America and transferring them to India.

oh good; kill projects like google fiber

[WindBourne]

but extend free wifi in his native India, along with sending most job openings to India.
Way to go google.

Re:oh good; kill projects like google fiber

[NG Resonance]

Google Inc. is not a "global company." It is a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

Re:oh good; kill projects like google fiber

[swb]

I'd like to know how successful a "global" company like Google would be without the political weight of the American economy, diplomacy and ultimately, military behind it.

Google owes its success globally to the extent that it can count on the American government to back it up overseas, otherwise it would be just another listening post and censorship arm of a bunch of third world kleptocracies and dictatorships.

Re:oh good; kill projects like google fiber

[WindBourne]

actually, local gov are BEGGING Google. The issue is that the GOP at the state and national levels are fighting it for their fascist friends.
However, the google fiber is a money maker, while the indian wifi is a free give-away. BIG DIFFERENCE.

"Nobody in India" -- oh, really?

[jbn-o]

Nobody in India has an issue with Google's approach.

That's an extraordinary claim. This requires extraordinary evidence. I doubt you have the evidence to stand behind this. You presented no evidence of this. It reads as if you're saying there are no Indians who understand that it is in Google's interest to continue to offer gratis services which feed a business model built in part on spying thus making their network service a trap.