Google is planning to expand its public Wi-Fi programme, Google Station to cities

Google is planning to expand it Wi-Fi initiative, Google Station from railway stations to cities as well. [caption id=“attachment_4243965” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Google for India event. YouTube.[/caption] At the Google for India event in New Delhi Caesar Sengupta, vice president of Next Billion Users, said that Google’s initiative of public Wi-Fi  **with RailTel**, Google Station, which began in 2016, will expand to the general public within cities as well. Asserting on the importance of public access to Wi-Fi, Google Station would begin expanding its public Wi-Fi networks to provide internet connectivity to cities as well. Currently, its public Wi-Fi programme which is limited to railway stations supports 227 stations. By 2018, it intends to support all 400 stations with public Wi-Fi in India. 22 stations in India will be going live this month itself.

Public WiFi Hotspots are the Internet cafe of the mobile era. A place to get high-quality Internet, check mail, offline some videos and hang out at. #GoogleForIndia pic.twitter.com/WVdDjiiXSx

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) December 5, 2017

On 5 December at the Google for India event, Google made of host of other announcements as well. It introduced the Bill Pay feature in its digital payments platform, Google Tez. This would be soon rolled out in a few weeks. This feature will allow the user to pay their electricity bills, telephone bills among others. It has included more than 70 billers. Some of them are MTNL Delhi, Reliance Energy, TATA Power, TATA Docomo. Another announcement is that of a partnership between the TATA Trusts and the Internet Saathi, an initiative by the Google. This partnership intends to bring employment in the life of rural women. Considering the gap between the number of female and male users being abysmally low, this initiative, besides providing digital literacy, wants to empower women. Other announcements are Google Maps, where there will also be a **two-wheeler section** along side fourwheeler, train, or walking options. Meanwhile, Google Assistant is now **available** in Jio Phone. User can now talk to their Google Assistant in both Hindi and English. It is said to be the first feature phone to have Google Assistant. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.