Currently, there are 300 million residents of India that have Internet connectivity. That sounds like a lot until you consider that there are 1.25 billion people living in India. Google wants to change that to a higher percentage of the population, and their plan to do so involves providing free high-speed Wi-Fi in 400 railway stations across the country.
The first 100 stations, which include the busiest of the bunch with some 10 million passengers per day, are scheduled to go online by the end of 2016. The first of these will have their wireless network installed over the next few months. Google believes that in time, these will become self-sustaining. Eventually, 30 million additional Indians could receive free Internet access through Google's railway program.
A Partnership Between Google and Indian Railways
India's railways serve 21 million people each day, which will soon be increased to about 30 million.
Google is working together with Indian Railways and the government telecommunications provider, RailTel, to establish the service. Currently, the railways are able to transport up to 21 million people each day, but plans are already underway to expand that capacity to 30 million passengers daily. The additions include a 20 percent extension to current track lengths in the country. Eventually, the track lengths will total 138,000 kilometers, or about 85,750 miles. The expansion project should be completed within the next five years.
The exact terms and conditions of Google's deal with Indian Railways were not made public. It is unknown whether it will include allowing Google to place ads in the railway stations or other perks. Efforts by journalists to get in touch with Google representatives for comment were unsuccessful. Google believes that most passengers will take advantage of the service in order to stream videos to watch while waiting on trains, research travel destinations, read books, or play games to pass the time.
Part of an Overall Effort to Empower Indians with Internet Access
Out of India's 1.25 billion citizens, only about 300 million have Internet access. The prime minister is working hard to change that.
India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has been a strong supporter of Indian access to the Internet. He visited the Google headquarters in Santa Clara County, California recently to muster more support from other companies in Silicon Valley for his pet project, Digital India. That project's goal is to connect more Indian citizens to the Internet. Under his tenure, Indian Internet access has grown by 63 percent within just one year. Modi wants to see that expand even further.
India has initiated a project to expand the country's fiber optic network, which will deliver broadband access to about 600,000 villages, according to a statement by the Prime Minister to the Press Information Bureau in India. India does not censor Internet access for its citizens, but it has been known to allow law enforcement access to things like search histories and has also blocked material that was considered pornographic and offensive to the religious population of India.
During Modi's visit to Silicon Valley, he also spoke at Facebook's headquarters, including conducting a Q & A session. Facebook said that more than 40,000 questions were submitted by users for the session.
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