Question : Wi-Fi by Railtel

(a) whether the RailTel Corporation of India Ltd saw an uptrend in user interest for Wi-Fi services at railway stations,
(b) if so the details thereof;
(c) the details of number of stations which are likely to get public Wi-Fi and network infrastructure installed;
(d) whether the RailTel is exploring the option of charging passengers for using public Wi-Fi services at railway stations, if so the details thereof;
(e) the amount of revenue generated by RailTel during the last three years including the current year; and
(f) the other facilities proposed by the RailTel to the passengers to improve overall passenger experience and increase the non-fare revenue through multiple monetization models?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) Yes, Sir. User interest for Wi-Fi service at Railway Stations is improving after Covid Pandemic.
(b) Total user count in last three successive months was:-
Nov’2020 = 28,91,008 Nos.
Dec’2020 = 34,23,103 Nos. and
Jan’2021 = 33,92,955 Nos.

(c) Currently Wi-Fi Facility has been provided at 5961 railway stations in the country. Wi-Fi Facility at all balance feasible stations is likely to be provided in the country by 2021.
(d) Yes, Sir. RailTel is providing free Wi-Fi to passengers at Railway Stations for initial 30 minutes and after that on chargeable basis.
(e) The revenue generated is as under:
2017-2018 – ? 4.98 crore
2018-2019 – ? 4.98 crore
2019-2020 – ? 7.21 crore
2020-2021 – ? 0.31 crore till date.
(f) To improve overall passengers experience and increase the non-fare revenue through multiple monetization, RailTel is in process of providing content on Demand (CoD) in Trains and is in process of floating tender for Railway Display Network (RDN) for Railway Stations to provide contextually rich and relevant information to Rail users along with public awareness messages.

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