Ola launches Free In-Cab ‘Auto-Connect Wi-Fi’ to Access Internet Without Entering Any Credentials

Ola, the largest mobile app for renting cabs in India, have today announced launch of a new feature for their cab riders – Auto Connect WiFi. As the name suggests this allows users to auto connect to Wi-Fi in an Ola cab without having to enter credentials every single time.

First time users with a one-time authentication on their phones, can use Ola Wi-Fi on their devices without having to key in login credentials and passwords in subsequent rides, staying connected with Ola’s secure network whenever they take a ride.

This new feature is currently available for free on Ola Prime and will soon be available across all categories including Micro, Mini and Auto-rickshaws available on the Ola app.

In the press release sent to us, Ola has not mentioned if and who they have partnered with to provide internet services.

This feature is an extension of ‘Ola Select’, which they have launched last year in August. However, Ola Select was an exclusive benefits program that was available for selected customers only. Also, the Wi-Fi connectivity in Ola Select used standard authentication mechanism, where user had to go through authentication process every single time they took a ride with Ola Cabs.

Generally, trying to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots is always a pain due to authentication procedures, which sometime takes more than a few minutes to get connected. With the new Auto connect feature, the customer will be instantly and seamlessly connected to internet as soon as they hop on to the cab. With this, Ola is sure to see massive surge in internet usage by users. Ola claims that over 200TB of data was consumed on a monthly basis by users of Ola Prime, which used standard authentication process.

Ankit Bhati, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer at Ola added, “We are thrilled to bring our proprietary Ola Wi-Fi experience to users, changing the way they will stay connected on the move. As part of Ola’s Innovation Labs, this first of its kind experience is in line with the Government’s initiatives of Digital India and owes inspiration to large projects like free Wi-Fi in railway stations. We also see this as the beginning of connected cities, with hundreds of thousands of vehicles connecting millions of users on the go!”

Ola’s biggest competitor, Uber also offers free internet connectivity on their cabs through their partnership with Airtel 4G.