Google had shown great interest in investing in the Digital India campaign last year in September 2015, by setting up free WiFi at 400 railway stations across India. This is also claimed to be the biggest public WiFi in India and who can do it better than the technology gurus at Google.
Now, an Indian company called Joister Infomedia is all set to install free WiFi hotspots at all railway stations in Maharashtra. At the moment, Joister has only approached the Central and Western Railways with the proposition and only the Railway Ministry can take action on the proposal.
Nikunj Kampani, Chairman and Managing Director at Joister Infomedia, said, “We appreciate the government’s ‘Digital India’ campaign and to lend our bit of support, we have sought permissions from Central Railway and Western Railway to give free Wi-Fi facility at all railway stations of Maharashtra. It would be really encouraging if domestic players like us are also given equal chance to partner in Digital India initiative, just as foreign companies like Google have been given.”
About Joister Infomedia
Joister Infomedia is primarily a broadband and gaming service provider based out of Mumbai. The benevolence of the company is commendable for they have been trying to connect all of Maharashtra digitally. Last year, Joister launched free WiFi hotspots (called Joispot), of speeds upto 2MBPS, at 436 locations in four cities in the state, namely Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
The free WiFi service is available in schools, colleges, cafeterias, malls, markets etc so as to reach out to a wider audience. The number of registered users is approximately 2 lakh and continue to grow as the rollouts increase in other 30 targeted cities in Maharashtra.
Joister’s main aim, as explained by Nikunj Kampani, Chairman and Managing Director of Joister Infomedia, is to equip every common man with internet service because he believes growth can happen in this era through the vast knowledge and information available on the internet. An Indian company has equal responsibility as that of a foreign company in providing basic services to the citizens of India and uplifting them.
How does it help Indians and Joister?
Currently, out of 1.2 Billion people in India, only 15% have access to the internet and not many have access to fast internet, thereby reducing the productivity. By offering free WiFi at 2MBPS to users at public locations, Joister is working towards a great cause of connecting everyone, irrespective of their social status.
On the other hand, Joister is getting enough marketing and support from the Government to set up such hotspots. More and more initiatives on offering free internet to the users of the country are gaining traction, and Joister is taking cognizance of the fact that no Indian company has yet come forward to support Digital India in this field. Indirectly, this is making Joister a good name in our minds and providing it enough name in India.
We hope such services expand outside of Maharashtra to people of less connected areas in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar etc. Indian technology companies, are you listening?
