Google Station expands Wi-Fi service to smart cities

Google on Wednesday announced its partnership with India’s largest engineering and construction company Larsen and Toubro to bring 150 Google Station hotspots to Pune. The internet giant said the collaboration is part of Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited’s Smart City project.

The company said it is for the first time deploying Google Station outside of the railways. It said 7.7 million users had benefited at over 270 railway stations through its RailTel Wi-Fi project.

“Today marks a big step for us as we expand Google Station hotspots from railways to cities,” said Vinay Goel, product management director, Google Station, in a statement. “Our aim with Google Station is to bring fast Wi-Fi to more users in more places within India.”

Potentially, three million people in Pune can now get online within seconds, to message friends, pay bills, shop online and watch music videos at locations all around the city, according to the firm.

The Mountain View, California-based Google said Public Wi-Fi alone, does not make a city “smart.” It said 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. This 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.

“We’re looking forward to helping people in Pune get fast, simple and secure access to everything the internet has to offer,” said Mr.Goel.

He said the company built Google Station to be both the highest-quality and easiest Wi-Fi service for users and the easiest for partners to deploy. “We think this makes Station a great connectivity partner for the growing number of Indian smart cities,” said Mr.Goel.