NuRe Bharat Network, a joint venture consortium between 3i Infotech, FISST and Yellow inc. has announced the launch of the Mobile App – PIPOnet. RailTel Corporation of India, a Miniratna PSU under the Ministry of Railways, has partnered with the consortium, led by 3i Infotech to monetise its Public WiFi across the Indian Railway network.
The Indian Railways is the largest railway network in Asia with a daily count of 23 million passengers and more than 1.5 million users logging every day to the WiFi network provided by RailTel across 6109 railway stations. The PIPOnet App (Powered by Railtel) will help the users with integrated services like e-ticketing, travel and stay reservations, porter booking, music, infotainment, edutainment, OTT channels and various helpline services. PIPOnet will also provide an e-commerce platform for Bharat’s artisans to sell their wares across India. As NuRe Bharat Network through its digital marketing efforts will increase the number of logins from 1.5 million today to more than 11 million, the commercial opportunities for sellers from Bharat will increase manifolds, changing their economic profile, using this public WiFi.
The initiative sights the need and advantages of connecting all large, medium and small advertisers across the country to connect with the nation’s populace. Onboarding PIPOnet will allow the advertisers to connect deeply with the people of Tier 1,2,3&4 towns of India based across rural, semi-urban and urban cities. The advertisers will get a multitude of options for their ads including display banner ads, video banner ads, interstitial ads, and carousel ads in multiple dimensions and formats.
NuRe Bharat Network through its AI/ML-based Data Analytics capabilities will also provide deep dissected analysis of the viewers’ demography and preference profile. Advertisers will also be able to execute targeted communication in English and 8 regional languages to reach specific audiences across the demography. Also, integrated with leading SSPs & Ad Networks for Programmatic guarantee, direct, and real-time bidding, and PMP buys, the application will offer the advertisers an opportunity to host programmatic ads using public WiFi.
Speaking on the launch, Sax Krishna, Chief Executive Officer, NuRe Bharat Network said, “With the launch of the NuRe Bharat Network, we plan to serve a bigger goal for the good of the country. WiFi access will be secured; hence, we can facilitate services like healthcare, education and more to the Indian populace. Especially in the Tier 3&4 towns, we want to empower individuals by giving them access to democratized Internet, thereby opening their doors to greater opportunities. Internet brings with itself a hundred possibilities, and we aim to lead with an example of a secured and thought-through method for all who are currently unable to access a high-speed internet to access it on the go.”
Sanjai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel expressed, “We are elated at the launch of PIPOnet and the initiatives we are working towards to bring India together through a platform with immense potential. Bridging the digital divide between urban and rural India is one of our core missions. Our station Wi-Fi network covers the country’s length and breadth, and this collaboration will further unlock its true potential. We congratulate 3i Infotech and the other members of the consortium for their diligence towards this socio-economic inventiveness.”
PIPOnet, facilitating the captive WiFi portal will have a 4-step process for WiFi connectivity. Furthermore, with an average of 4-5 touchpoints for WiFi access, the platform will be able to generate 180+ million monthly pageviews and 500+ million impressions monthly, thereby providing advertisers with a mega platform to proliferate deep into the Indian populace and offer their services. PIPOnet mobile App will be available for public use from August 2023 on the Google Play store in both IOS and Android versions.