PressPlay TV has tied up with North Western Railway to offer free VoD service on Delhi-Bikaner bound Bikaner Intercity, and Delhi-Udaipur bound Chetak Express respectively.
“The company is in talks with Northwestern Railways to offer this service on 30 more trains in the next quarter. The service is absolutely free,” PressPlay TV co-founder and COO George Abraham said in a statement.
PressPlay TV offers content such as movies, songs, and news that users access through its Wi-Fi hotspots. To access the content, users need to install its free Android application. This content is hosted locally at PressPlay TV hotspot, so it does not need to connect to the Internet.
The PressPlay TV app automatically downloads when phone is connected to the hotspot, and users can start streaming movies and videos for free without using their mobile data, the company said.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER JOISTER WANTS TO EQUIP ALL RAILWAY STATIONS IN MAHARASHTRA WITH FREE WI-FI
After launching free wi-fi facility at about 500 locations in four major cities of Maharashtra, leading broadband and gaming service provider Joister Infomedia has offered to provide free wi-fi at all railway stations in the state.
Joister Infomedia, which is currently giving free wi-fi facility to about two lakh registered users in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Navi Mumbai, has approached Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) with a proposal in this regard.
“We appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s move of ‘Digital India’ campaign and to lend our bit of support, we have sought permissions from the Central Railway and Western Railway to give free wi-fi facility at all railway stations in Maharashtra,” said Nikunj Kampani, chairman and managing director, Joister Infomedia.
“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 has been given,” he said.
A senior railway official confirmed that Joister Infomedia’s proposal has been received, and said only the Railway Board or Railway Ministry can take a call on it.
Kampani said the company’s objective is to connect more and more people with the Internet.
“It’s all about empowering via a digital platform. No contracts, no hidden fees and no fine print. We keep everything as simple and transparent as possible. It is very important to eliminate the digital divide in the country, as the total population of India is 126 crore, out of which only 36 crore people are able to avail the Internet,” he said.
The company recently launched its free wi-fi service at Nair Hospital and KEM Hospital in Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation. It aims to expand its services to 30 more cities, including Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Chiplun, Nashik and Nagpur, in the next six months, he said.
Internet giant Google had last year announced to provide free wi-fi facility at 400 railway stations in the country.