The world’s first Google Station Wi-Fi hotspot will be set up in Pune

Image: Google

By tech2 News Staff /  09 Feb 2017 , 14:53

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.

Finance Minister Jaitley emphasises that India needs to undergo rapid urbanisation in next 2 decades

Image: Urban Engines

  27 Oct 2016 , 19:00

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday stressed on India’s need to urbanise rapidly in the next two decades in line with its present development in order to relieve the pressure on agriculture. “In the next two decades, India will have to go for rapid urbanisation, in line with what we see already — the growth of satellite towns, of suburbanization around metros, etc,” Jaitley said.

The Minister was addressing the ADB-Asian Think Tank Development Forum here on sustainable urbanisation organised by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, ADB and ICRIER. “Urbanisation is inevitable to relieve agriculture from the number of people still living off the land. Urban India is now 31 percent of the country’s population..urban centres have become engines of growth in the states,” he added.

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Jaitley mentioned Bengaluru and Gurgaon as two rapidly developing centres in recent times. He noted the hitherto “unorganised construction” involved in this urbanisation process and stressed on the need for more “participation of organised construction to create organised townships.”

Asking, “Are we ready for this massive urbanisation in terms of infrastructure like water, transport, roads and sanitation,” Jaitley said that more resources were likely to be given to the states under the Smart Cities initiative.

“The Smart City initiative has prompted substantial competition among cities, themselves organised around the basis of objective criteria. More resources are soon likely to be given to the cities,” Jaitley said. “The Swachch Bharat — Clean India campaign will be integral to the urbanisation process,” he added.

IANS