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Some six odd years ago, Google started the GStation program as a partnership with Indian Railways and Railtel to bring fast, free public WiFi to over 400 of the busiest railway stations in India by mid-2020. Come 2018, and Google had already crossed that number. But, it turns out, that the tech giant is gradually winding down the GStation program.
In a detailed blog post, Caeser Sengupta, VP - Payments and Next Billion Users, Google, spoke at length about the reasons for doing so. The blog post began with details about the vision behind GStation and the purpose of launching the program.
“Over time, partners in other countries asked for Station too and we responded accordingly. We’re grateful for these partnerships, especially with the Indian Railways and the Government of India, that helped us serve millions of users over the last few years,” read the blog post.
The blog then goes on to talk about how easy it has become for users to get on the Internet than it used to be six years ago. Not only has mobile connectivity improved globally, but the data plans have also become cheaper, thus implying that the mission that GStation had set out to accomplish has already been achieved.
“India, specifically now, has among the cheapest mobile data per GB in the world, with mobile data prices having reduced by 95% in the last 5 years, as per TRAI in 2019. Today, Indian users consume close to 10 GB of data, each month, on average,” read the blog post.
The blog also talked about how other governments have also come up with several initiatives, much like the Indian government to make data cheaper.
“Therefore, we've made the decision to gradually wind down the Station program globally, through 2020. We are working with our partners to transition existing sites so they can remain useful resources for the community,” read the announcement.
The blog ended on a hopeful note, with Google assuring the readers that they will continue their efforts to make the next billion users stronger.
In a detailed blog post, Caeser Sengupta, VP - Payments and Next Billion Users, Google, spoke at length about the reasons for doing so. The blog post began with details about the vision behind GStation and the purpose of launching the program.
“Over time, partners in other countries asked for Station too and we responded accordingly. We’re grateful for these partnerships, especially with the Indian Railways and the Government of India, that helped us serve millions of users over the last few years,” read the blog post.
The blog then goes on to talk about how easy it has become for users to get on the Internet than it used to be six years ago. Not only has mobile connectivity improved globally, but the data plans have also become cheaper, thus implying that the mission that GStation had set out to accomplish has already been achieved.
“India, specifically now, has among the cheapest mobile data per GB in the world, with mobile data prices having reduced by 95% in the last 5 years, as per TRAI in 2019. Today, Indian users consume close to 10 GB of data, each month, on average,” read the blog post.
The blog also talked about how other governments have also come up with several initiatives, much like the Indian government to make data cheaper.
“Therefore, we've made the decision to gradually wind down the Station program globally, through 2020. We are working with our partners to transition existing sites so they can remain useful resources for the community,” read the announcement.
The blog ended on a hopeful note, with Google assuring the readers that they will continue their efforts to make the next billion users stronger.
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