Kochi: Three railway stations in the state — Ernakulam Junction, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram Central — have been included in the first phase of the ambitious high-speed Wi-fi project annou-nced by Internet major Google.
“Wi-fi at ERS (Ernak-ulam South station) targeted for October 2015. TCR (Thrissur) and TVC (Thiruvananthapuram Central) next, a little later,” Sunil Bajpai, divisional railway manager, announced through his Twitter handle.
Google earlier had announced plans to bring high-speed Wi-fi to 100 of the country’s busiest stations (A1 and A) by the end of 2016 and it aims to eventually bring connectivity to another 400 stations.
A senior commercial department official said as per the information available, net neutrality will be ensured for users. “We’re yet to receive written communication in this regard. Wi-fi will be free for the first 30 minutes. Beyond that, customers will have to pay for the services. As a matter of fact, we’re alr-eady providing free WiFi at the renovated waiting hall at Chengannur,” the official said.
The high-speed network will be capable of delivering HD video streaming services and the passengers could download a movie in four minutes before they embark on long journeys. Google has tied up with the Indian Railways and RailTel, which operates a fibre network along many of the rail lines, to implement the project. Meanwhile, the Southern Railway is planning to introduce WiFi at Ernakulam Town and Aluva stations too by tying up with public sector telecom major BSNL.
