Google (GOOGL) Beat Facebook (FB) By Doing This

India has one of the biggest populations on this planet, and getting the country’s people connected to the internet has been easier for Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai than it has been for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. This is a country that both companies are grasping to get their next 1 billion users from. The country has about 1.3 billion people and only about a third of the population has internet access.

Earlier this year Google started offering free Wi-Fi at about two dozen train stations in the country. It now has 2 million people using the service each month and by the end of the year millions more will gain access as the service expands to 100 locations. Google’s goal is to reach 400 stations.

Facebook launched Free Basics last year, that helped people online by covering the cost for mobile users to connect to select websites and services on their phones. However, it was blocked in February by India’s telecom regulator.

Facebook has said that it will keep looking for ways to deliver cheaper internet access and is now testing a service, called Express Wi-Fi. Express Wi-Fi will let people buy affordable data packs via digital vouchers and access Wi-Fi networks.

“The goal of these trials is to find an economically sustainable model for all stakeholders,” Facebook said in a statement.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL) nor Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: F) and have not been compensated for this article.