RailTel brings Wi-Fi to historic Dera Baba Nanak station

New Delhi: RailTel, a Miniratna PSU of Indian Railways, has provided Railwire Wi-Fi at the historic Dera Baba Nanak Railway station, Punjab, to enable pilgrims to use fast Wi-Fi services. The news comes just days after the "Kartarpur Corridor" project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 9. This has caused more people to use the station for commuting, a press release said.

"Free Wi-Fi at this station is proving to be a boon for the passengers. The free Railwire Wi- Fi can be used inside the railway station premises by anyone who has a smartphone with a working connection for KYC consideration. The Sultanpur Lodhi station which has a rush of pilgrims for visiting Dera Baba Nanak has also been provided with Wi-Fi," a release said.

RailTel brings 5,300 stations within WiFi canopy

In a mission to turn the Railway station into a platform for Digital inclusion, RailTel has provided free Wi-Fi at over 5,300 railway stations across the country. Soon, all feasible railway stations (except the halt ones), will have free Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi service to passengers are being provided under 'RailWire'— the retail Broadband initiative of RailTel catering to enterprises, SMEs and homes.

How can the WiFi be accessed?

To use the Wi-Fi, the user has to switch on the Wi-Fi mode on the smartphone and select the RailWire Wi-Fi network. The RailWire homepage automatically appears on the smartphone. The user has to enter his or her mobile number on this homepage. The user will get one-time password (OTP) in form of SMS in the message box which has to be entered in the home page of RailWire. After entering OTP, users will be able to access high speed internet and can start internet browsing.

The backdrop

RailTel was also entrusted by NIC to deliver 8 Mbps BW at Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur, under the prestigious "Kartarpur Corridor" project of the government. This leased line connectivity shall enable the ICP for authentication of traveller's identity at the Immigration Check Post (ICP) and Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs) through the use of intelligent documents scanners and biometrics, updation of foreigner's details at entry and exit points.

"This leased line connectivity has been done within a record time of 15 days which includes Radio Connectivity in Backbone/Aggregation from Amritsar to Dera Baba Nanak, a distance of 45 KM, and Last mile underground OFC connectivity of 5 KM from Dera Baba Nanak station to ICP/Dera Baba Nanak. This was a very challenging project for RailTel as the time period given was very short and due to bad weather the work was hampered for couple of days. RailTel had to erect two 30-meter-tall towers for Radio link to provide seamless connectivity as Dera Baba Nanak is at a distance of 49 km for which repeater had to be provided for connectivity to the farthest / remotest point in Punjab near International Border," a press release said.