Wi-fi connectivity for laptop users at stations

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) RailTel, a public sector undertaking under Railway Ministry, has set up cyber cafes at 17 selected stations so far under the franchisee model on revenue sharing arrangements.

Wi-Fi connectivity for laptop has also been provided in and around such cyber cafes at five stations -- Bangalore, Hyderabad, Howrah, Jaipur and Sealdah so far, Minister of State for Railways R Velu informed the Lok Sabha today in a written reply.

A ministry official had earlier said wireless internet surfing, a facility currently available at a few upscale airports in the country, would soon become a reality at important stations like New Delhi, Mumbai Central, Chennai, Howrah, Sealdah, Dadar and Bangalore.

In effect, laptop and palmtop computers can be used without attaching them to a telephone or cable wires, and this will become possible with the help of WiMax technology.

Such a facility is now available at the Indira Gandhi International airport in the national capital, Bangalore airport and and in some important cities.

This wireless Internet facility will be powered by WiMax technology, and infrastructure for it is being provided at some important stations.

WiMax is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances.

He said the Railways had initially planned to use Wi-Fi technology for wireless Internet surfing, but it later settled for WIMAX technique because of its ability to provide faster speed for net surfing.

In WiMax, the speed of Internet is 2.4 Giga hertz per second, but such a technology cannot be used in moving trains because its waves get scattered when placed within an object at a fast speed.

UNI