Google is now setting its sights on India's railroads, which, according to The Verge, is "The Lifeline to the Nation" given the number of people frequenting the stations of the Asian country.
Google CEO Shundar Pichai recently announced that the tech giant is planning to put up Wi-Fi connections in the railway stations across India. This is going to be a huge project given that the country is home to over 7,000 stations that span 67,000 miles of track.
In his announcement, Pichai noted that Google is targeting the billions of indians who are still not connected to the online world.
The Google CEO also highlighted that what Google is about to put up is not just some typically slow connection but fast broadband so people can really enjoy their Wi-Fi experience.
Google's project is not starting small since Pichai highlighted that the company is planning to install public Wi-Fi to 400 train stations across the country, as per TechCrunch.
The company is projecting that for every 100 stations that it is putting up, over 10 million people will get access to the Web.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke out about Google's plan, saying: "We want our 1.25 billion citizens to be digitally connected. We already had broadband usage across India go up by 63 per cent last year. We need to accelerate this. Building I-ways are as important as highways."
Modi also touched on the importance of Web access given the many local languages of India. He said, "For me, access also means that content should be in local languages. In a country with 22 official languages, it is a formidable but an important task," as quoted by Business Standard.
Meanwhile, just a day prior to Pichai's announcement, Microsoft teased about its plans to provide "cheap" broadband to over 500,000 Indian villages.
Engadget noted that Google's plan is not really an act of selflessness but a strategy to attract more first-time Internet users in India.
