New Delhi, May 17 (IANS): On the occasion of World Telecom Day on Friday, state-run telecom major BSNL has partnered with Google to increase access to its WiFi footprint in the country.

With the launch of this service, people across the country will be able to enjoy BSNL's free WiFi services.

This initiative will allow customers use BSNL's high speed internet services on WiFi.

BSNL is also taking steps to increase the rural WiFi footprint, promoting the government's 'Digital India' initiative.

"We have been partnering with various technology companies upgrading our platform and increasing our customer reach in this era of ever-increasing demand of high speed internet", BSNL Director (CFA) Vivek Bansal said.

BSNL Chairman Anupam Shrivastav on Friday performed the soft launch of the BSNL - Google Station free WiFi services.

There are 38,000 BSNL WiFi hotspot locations operational in India. One can access these by buying WiFi vouchers that are priced starting at Rs 19.