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Irish Rail Pondering How to Make Money from Free WiFi …
(17 Mar 2016, BWCS Staff)With large parts of Ireland left deserted as the inhabitants descend on the sleepy market town of Cheltenham to indulge in the annual horse-racing / Guinness drinking festival, back home, transport operator CIÉ, is mulling ways to make money its free WiFi services. The company has invested heavily to provide WiFi on all Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus services and is now engaging consultants (not us) to see how it could be used to generate cash.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Barry Kenny, of CIÉ, stressed that basic access to the Net will remain free. Kenny, commented “It’s one of our selling points now and it’s expected. When you go to a hotel you expect the WiFi to be free and when you’re charged for it, you’re annoyed. But we are examining the potential for a revenue stream from it.”
The operator reported that it had some 199 million passenger journeys last year and that his resulted in some 26 million internet sessions. This figure, which is expected to increase over the next few years, represents what CIÉ believes, is a huge untapped potential for advertising and sponsorship deals. The train company is also debating whether it should enter the entertainment industry and start offering films, music and TV content to tis passengers.
At the moment, streaming sites such as YouTube are blocked on the WiFi in trains and buses in order to constrain usage. However, CIÉ could offer pre-stored content on board. Passengers would still be able to view material previously downloaded onto their own devices for free, but, it is understood, CIÉ would like to make their paid-for offering attractive by including recent cinema releases. Other train operators have found it hard to secure the rights to screen recently released blockbuster movies.
The expanding market for on-board WiFi and passenger entertainment services, as well as the problems of intermittent mobile coverage, proposed trackside solutions and other issues facing Ireland, the UK and the rest of the World will all be covered in this year’s WiFi on Trains Conference hosted by BWCS. For more information please see www.Traincomms2016.com or contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com .
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