The High-Speed Free Wi-Fi Internet Facility has now become available at 6100 Railway stations across the country, RailTel said on Tuesday.
With the commissioning of Wi-Fi facility at Ubarni Railway Station in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh over Lucknow Division of Northern Railway, RailTel is close to achieving 100 per cent coverage (except the halt stations) and only few stations are left a statement by RailTel said.
Puneet Chawla, Chairman & Managing Director, RailTel said that the responsibility to implement this remarkable Digital India initiative has been entrusted to Railway Mini Ratna PSU "RAILTEL". Working tirelessly and continuously even through trying times of COVID-19 pandemic, RailTel is providing state-of-the-art public Wi-Fi under the brand name of 'RailWire' which is the retail broadband service of RailTel.
The highlight of this project is that out of these 6100 Railway stations, more than 5000 stations are in rural areas making Wi-Fi facility available at many far-flung stations across the country like several stations of North Eastern Region and all the 15 stations of Kashmir Valley. Access to Wi-Fi not only connects communities but also opens up a world of opportunity for innovation and growth. India has a stark Digital Divide between Urban and rural India. RailWire Wi-Fi at stations is helping to connect the unconnected as majority of stations of this public Wi-Fi network are located in rural India with poor connectivity.
The Wi-fi is free for the first 30 minutes of usage every day at 1 mbps speed. For using the Wi-Fi facility further at "higher" speed beyond 30 minutes, the user needs to choose a plan with higher speed by paying a nominal fee. The plans vary from Rs. 10/day (for 5 GB @ 34 MBPS) to Rs. 75/30 day (for 60 GB @ 34 MBPS) excluding GST. A number of payment options like net banking, wallet, credit card can be used to purchase plan online.
Chawla further said that, "RailTel is at the forefront of National Digital Transformation activities. The Wi-Fi internet facility at stations has become quite popular and useful especially at stations situated in rural areas. It is a crucial step for Prime Minister's Digital India Mission as this Wi-Fi facility will go a long way in connecting the unconnected. This initiative of Indian Railway and RailTel has paved the way for the common Indian Railway Travelers to reap the benefits of Digital Technology."
'RailTel has invested a significant amount of Capex in building this network and to monetize this we have launched paid Wi-Fi plan across all Wi-Fi stations after allowing first 30 minutes of 'free' use. We are also going to monetize the network through advertisement-based revenue for which we intend to come out with an EOI shortly', he added.
It is notable that Railway Stations are places where cross-section of the society converges. The quickening pace of modernisation and manifold increase in smart phone usage has triggered a 'Digital India' revolution. Public visiting stations use this facility for streaming High Definition (HD) Videos, download of movies, songs, games, and do their office work online.
Envisaged in 2015 Rail Budget, the project of providing free Wi-Fi Internet facility at stations is one of the largest and fastest public Wi-Fi networks of the world and aims to convert the Railway platform into a platform for digital inclusion. Students, especially competitive examination aspirants from remote locations with limited access to internet, use the station Wi-Fi facilities for their examination preparations. Passengers are also using this facility for leveraging entertainments on their personal devices.
Being one of a kind project, there is need to focus on generating public awareness as well so that the project impact is maximized and hence local Railway Zones and Divisions from time to time keep launching awareness campaigns for promoting this facility.
( With inputs from ANI )
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