Cisco, Google join hands to offer high-speed public wi-fi in India

Cisco said it has partnered with Google to roll out free high-speed wi-fi across 200 locations in Bengaluru over the next two months.

The technology major, which has made this announcement l at its India Summit here, said these wi-fi zones will be in high-traffic areas in the city and not in railway stations. The locations include public spaces like bus stops, hospitals, government offices, etc.

Currently such zones are implemented across 25 locations in Bengaluru.

Cisco and Google aim to take the number of such zones to 500 in Bengaluru alone and take this to other cities and villages. Cisco said to take such free wi-fi zones to rural parts it would look to engage with government agencies.

Sameer Garde, President, Cisco India & SAARC, said this partnership is aimed to provide internet connectivity to the next billion users.

“Moving from slow to high-speed Internet access will increase user engagement and benefit millions of Internet users throughout the economic spectrum…This also represents a significant growth opportunity, the demand for public Wi-Fi hotspots is expected to go up by 100 times over the next 3 years, creating new markets for Cisco and our partners,” said Garde.

Sajith Sivanandan, MD and Business Head, Google Pay and Next Billion User Initiatives, India, said this is an advertisement supported business model and the revenue would be shared among three partners including the internet service provider – D-VoiS.

Cisco said India currently has 15000 wi-fi hotspots and to reach a scale like global markets it would need at least 4-6 million such hotspots. For example, in the US there is one wifi hotspot for 150 users, said the company.