It’s official, India will be the first country in the world where Google will deploy Google Station. It’s a fast Wi-Fi initiative that aims to bring high-speed internet access to public areas.
While India is the lucky country to get the station, the lucky city where the service will first be deployed in Pune. Google Station is a collaborative project between IBM, Larsen and Toubro and RailTel.
It’s a Rs 150 crore project that’s won by these companies as part of Pune’s Smart City initiative, reports The Economic Times.
Unlike Google’s earlier Railwire project with RailTel, the purpose of Google Station is to provide fast access to the internet in public areas and then eventually monetise the whole system. The smart city council will take a share of this revenue.
As with Railwire, Google will primarily provide the platform support required to integrate Wi-Fi access across a multitude of locations with a single sign-on process. Users will simply need to authenticate via OTP.
L&T is reportedly the ‘master system integrator’ for the project and will provide much of the infrastructure required.
Public call boxes, PA systems, environmental sensors and more will be integrated into the system.
ET reports that Google is working with the Pune government for the deployment of variable messaging displays as well.
IBM’s solutions will provide the “backbone” for Pune’s Smart City Network, the report adds.