Broadband
Public wifi to connect 40 mn Indians by 2019
MUMBAI: A joint report by Google and global research firm Ananlysys Mason stated that public Wi-Fi in India has the ability to capture 40 million new connected users by 2019, resulting in at least $20 billion being added to the country’s GDP. Public Wi-Fi could play a key role in driving ubiquitous connectivity and digital inclusion in India.
The report, titled “Accelerating connectivity through public Wi-Fi: Early lessons from the railway Wi-Fi project,” outlined an opportunity to develop a wider connectivity ecosystem with public Wi-Fi as a key component.
Analysys Mason principal consultant Ashwinder Sethi said,”By 2019, over 100 million users will spend an extra $3 billion annually on mobile broadband and handsets because of their experience of high-speed public Wi-Fi. This has direct implications on Wi-Fi ecosystem in the country, and indirect implications on the broader connectivity ecosystem, along with government, GDP and productivity.”
Google has currently partnered with RailTel and Indian Railways to offer public Wi-Fi in railway stations, covering 400 stations with about 7.6 million monthly active Wi-Fi users. The high-speed Wi-Fi network with uncapped bandwidth of 1 Gbit/s per station provides path-breaking digital experience to existing and new users alike.
Google India partnership Next Billion Users director K Suri said, “India is a big market for the next billion users. Wi-Fi is a huge focus area and opportunity in terms of connecting these users. We have found that if users have free and fast access, it could make a significant change to their lives and overall economic prosperity.”
Offered as a free utility service under the brand name “RailWire”, users have 30 minutes of free access to the internet, in which they can on an average consume 350 MB of data per session.
“Currently, the public Wi-Fi has close to eight million monthly active users, two-thirds of which are in a typically young age group. While 50 per cent users access theinternet multiple times a day, 36 per cent are first time Wi-Fi users on the network,” Suri said.
“The most usage is of online videos streaming content and watching IPL, social networking, finance. Even with multiple users getting connected at the same time, the experience is seamless and fast, with no buffering,” the Google executive noted.
As part of the next billion users’ initiative, Google is now building on the success of RailTel project to expand the public Wi-Fi outside train stations, into Indian cities and around the world like Indonesia and Mexico, among others, Suri added.
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Broadband
Zoff Foods extends Shilpa Shetty partnership into ninth year
Spice brand reinforces trust-led positioning amid growth and funding push.
MUMBAI: Nine years, one flavour and the recipe clearly still works. Zoff Foods has extended its long-running association with Shilpa Shetty, marking nine consecutive years of her as brand ambassador as the company scales its presence across Indian households. What began as a digital-first collaboration has gradually evolved into a defining element of the brand’s identity. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has mirrored Zoff’s own journey from an emerging challenger to a fast-growing FMCG player with a widening footprint across e-commerce, quick commerce and offline retail channels.
The logic behind the continuity is straightforward. In a category where trust and familiarity drive purchase decisions, particularly in spices and ready-to-cook segments, long-term associations tend to carry more weight than short bursts of visibility. Shetty’s positioning as a fitness-conscious, health-aware public figure aligns with the brand’s emphasis on purity and quality factors that are increasingly shaping consumer choices in modern Indian kitchens.
The extension also comes at a time when Zoff Foods is entering a more aggressive growth phase. The company recently raised $2 million in a Pre-Series B funding round led by JM Financial Private Equity, with participation from Aman Gupta, signalling a push towards expanding distribution, product innovation and market reach.
Company executives have positioned the continued partnership as a strategic anchor amid this expansion, reinforcing brand recall while entering new markets. For Shetty, the association remains rooted in shared values around authenticity and ingredient integrity attributes that resonate strongly with increasingly mindful consumers.
In a market crowded with new-age brands and shifting loyalties, Zoff’s approach suggests a different playbook: build slowly, stay consistent, and let familiarity do the heavy lifting. Because sometimes, in both branding and cooking, it’s not about reinventing the dish, it’s about perfecting it over time.
