Mysuru: Among 133 railway stations in Mysuru division including few halt stations, 32 will have high-speed Wi-Fi network facility. The passengers and those who come to railway station can avail free high-speed Wi-Fi network. This initiative is in tune with “Smart Railway Heralding Digital India.” The industrialists, working class and students have welcomed the initiative.
Under “Digital India” initiative of the Government of India, provision of Wi-Fi facility at important Railway stations had been announced in Railway Budget 2016. The Railway Board has entrusted this work to Rail-Tel for the provision of Wi-Fi at stations across India in collaboration with Google. Google has expressed interest in this project during the prime minister’s visit to Google Headquarter at Mountain View, California in 2016. High-speed Wi-Fi services at railway stations are now being provided through the collaboration of Rail-Tel and Google.
Railway stations are frequented by people from all segments of society. This initiative towards “Digital India” will provide high-speed access network to all rail users and will be extremely beneficial in bridging the digital divide. Passengers waiting for their trains can remain connected and carry out their work in a seamless manner. South Western Railway followed “Mission Wi-fi” and now has commissioned the same in as many as 115 stations within 18 months. All the main stations of SWR including 32 prominent railways stations coming under Mysuru division are connected with high-speed Wi-Fi such as Bengaluru, Yeshwantpur, Mysuru and Hubballi. Majority of the taluk headquarters that have railway stations have now been provided with WI-FI network. In Mysuru division, Wi-fi facility will be available at Chamarajanagar, Nanjangud, Kadakola, Ashokapuram, Mysuru, Krishnarajasagar, Arsikere, Bhadravati, Harihar, Holenarasipura, Birur, Haveri, Ranebennur and Haveri.
To provide Wi-Fi services at stations, access points are installed. Each access point covers 25 to 40 m. All platforms and entry area within the station limits are covered by access points. Multiple access points are provided at major stations whereas single access points are provided at rural stations. The maximum bandwidth allotted to each station is 1 GB.
The procedure to use railway Wi-Fi is simple and only needs entry of four-digit code sent to mobile on to mobile/laptop. Once logged in, unlimited service can be availed. Internet access with a speed of up to 1 Mbps (upload) and 3 Mbps (download) is provided free to the users for the first 30 minutes in a day. Subsequently, the speed reduces to 64 Kbps. However, access to railway-related site through Wi-Fi for information like PNR and Train enquiry will continue to be free for unlimited time.
Speaking to Newskarnataka, E Vijaya, Chief Public Relations Officer, South Western Railway said, “Rail-Tel is providing high-speed end to end network connectivity on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and Google is providing Radio Access Network equipment along with technical support. This is not like earlier Wi-Fi connectivity which was provided in few railway stations. Earlier, the standard equipment was not there but now it is upgraded and there is no room for failure.” She also mentioned that across South Western Railway including Mysuru division, 115 railway stations will have high-speed Wi-Fi network.
Arjun Ranga, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Mysuru chapter and Managing Director of Cycle Pure Agarbathies said, “It’s a fantastic move from the railway. Wi-Fi will give access to a lot of content. In the current world, information is the key. Access to information becomes very much important for anybody making any plan, particularly the travellers. As soon as they come to the city, they are on Wi-Fi and they can check for the nearest hotel availability and also can book taxis.”
Manasvini, a final year engineering student welcomed the initiative. “It’s really a good initiative from the government. Most of the time, they start well but when it comes to maintenance lies the problem. Hope they maintain well and provide more such passenger-friendly initiatives.”
