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.

Ecuador cuts off Assange’s internet access over fears of interference in US elections

Image Credit: WikiLeaks.org

  20 Oct 2016 , 15:48

Ecuador says it has temporarily cut off internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over fears he was using it to interfere in the US presidential election. The move comes in the wake of the publication of leaked emails by WikiLeaks, including emails from the account of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign adviser John Podesta.

The Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said WikiLeaks’ documents could interfere in the electoral process. It said Ecuador “respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states” and had cut off the internet access available to Assange because “in recent weeks WikiLeaks has published a wealth of documents, impacting on the US election campaign.

“In that respect, Ecuador, exercising its sovereign right, has temporarily restricted access to part of its communications systems in its UK Embassy,” the statement said. Ecuador clarified the move was not a result of pressure from Washington. The US denied WikiLeaks’ accusations on Sunday that it had asked Ecuador to stop the site publishing documents about Hillary Clinton.

The Ecuador statement also reaffirmed the asylum granted to Assange and reiterated its intention “to safeguard his life and physical integrity until he reaches a safe place”. Assange’s internet access was cut off on Monday morning. Assange has sought asylum at London’s Ecuadorean embassy since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex assault allegation.

According to the latest leaked emails, Clinton told a Goldman Sachs conference she would like to intervene secretly in Syria. She made the remark in answer to a question from Lloyd Blankfein, the bank’s chief executive, in 2013 — months after she left office as the Secretary of State. “My view was you intervene as covertly as is possible for Americans to intervene,” she told employees of the bank in South Carolina, which had paid her about $225,000 to give a speech.

IANS