Google to roll out Wi-Fi hotspots in India

In a bid to make itself more relevant to a larger section of users in India, Internet giant Google on Tuesday announced a slew of new initiatives aimed at improving connectivity and making its products available even to those without access to high speed data network.

Google announced five new products including a new version of YouTube that allows users to watch videos smoothly even in poor connectivity and new data-saving features in Google Chrome for mobile. Google also unveiled a project to roll out Wi-Fi hotspots in partnership with telecom operators.

Caesar Sengupta, Vice-President of Next Billion Users, said: “Our goal has not just been to help more Indians get online — but also to help Indians create the online experience they want; one that serves their needs and enables them to have an impact on the entire world. So we have been thinking about how to build products and services for this wave of new users — products that work for any level of connectivity, in local Indian languages, and across the devices that are most frequently used in India.”

YouTube Go is a brand new app designed and built from the ground up with insights from India. It not only allows users to save and watch videos smoothly even in poor connectivity, it also gives them transparency and control over how much data they consume on videos, allowing them to preview videos first and choose the video’s file size before they save it offline to watch later. They can also share videos easily with friends and family nearby, without using any data at all.

Soon testers in India will be able to use YouTube Go before the the product becomes more widely available.

Google will also launch a preview of the Google Assistant in Hindi by the end of 2016 inside the brand new Allo messaging app. The Google Assistant lets users have a conversation with Google, which can help them get things done.

Inspired by the success of the partnership with RailTel and Indian Railways to provide Wi-Fi at railway stations in India, the internet giant announced a new Wi-Fi platform called Google Station. This new platform will work with partners to roll out Wi-Fi hotspots, offering carriers, system integrators (SIs), and venues an easy way to set up internet access points.

Google in partnership with RailTel is now offering Wi-Fi services in over 50 railway stations. This is being accessed by 3.5 million people each month.

Sengupta also announced fast browsing in Google Play for people on 2G and other low-bandwidth connections. Fast browsing uses preloading on Wi-Fi to load the most popular parts of Google Play quickly. And when a user on a low-bandwidth connection chooses to install an app, Google Play will offer a new “Wait for Wi-Fi” option where the app will only install when the phone next connects to Wi-Fi.

A technology which reduces the amount of data Chrome uses on Android mobile devices, computers, and Chromebooks — will now support MP4 videos, saving up to over two-thirds (67%) of video data. Chrome on Android will now also automatically optimize pages to their essentials when 2G-like networks are detected. These simplified pages load up to 2X faster, saving more than 90 per cent of data usage.

Chrome on Android’s new Download feature will now allow users to save web pages, videos, music, or pictures. Downloaded items can be easily accessed in Chrome’s new downloads tab, even when offline. And if users go offline before the download is complete, the process will automatically resume next time they’re connected.

Rajan Anandan, Vice-President, India and South East Asia, said “Our vision is to make India a global hub of innovation and produce high quality mobile developers who will build not just for India but for the world.”