In a diverse country like India, the smooth roll out of technology is not easy but Google is trying to do just that with its various projects. And topping the list is providing access to internet.

Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer of the technology giant, unveiled the company’s plans for India here on Wednesday.

First in the list was the launch of free public Wi-Fi at railway stations. Come January, the first project will start at Mumbai Central in partnership with RailTel Corporation and Indian Railways.

“We have partnered with RailTel and Indian Railways to bring connectivity to 400 railway stations across India. By 2016-end, we would have done 100 stations. Our team is setting up infrastructure in Mumbai Central and testing it out. We expect it to go live in January and many more stations soon,” Pichai said here at a keynote address.

“In addition, we are working on Project Loon so that we can provide internet in far-flung rural areas. We are also exploring ways to bring our several services, especially in rural areas,” he said.

He said the company’s focus by bringing internet access to everyone assures that its products are working for the users in a meaningful way. Besides, the platform allows the users to add their voice to the internet.

Another significant part will be to bring women online on Google’s platform as only one-third of women in India have access to internet, he said. The company has already started a pilot project — teaching women how to use internet — in 1,000 villages across the country and helping them get online.

“From a pilot, we will now expand the programme ‘Internet Saathi’ to cover three lakh villages in three years,” Pichai said.

Hiring more Pichai also said the company is expanding its headcount in India, especially in engineering operations in its four centres.

“Google is looking at hiring people for Bengaluru and Hyderabad centres. We will also build a new campus in Hyderabad to build capabilities,” he added.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW