News

WiFi Goes Underground in China

(10 May 2016, BWCS Staff)

The so-called “inter-city subway” connecting Guangzhou and Foshan in south China has begun offering WiFi connections on the trains and at the stations. The new line, which extends 32km through 18 stations, is reportedly the first underground route to connect two cities together in China.

Whilst the Metro was opened in 2010, a trial of the WiFi system was not launched until the 24th April, this year. So far, the transit company reports, it has recorded an average of nearly 10,000 users online at the same time, with WiFi speed of no less than 512kbs, even at peak hours.

China Net Pro, the company responsible for installing and operating the new WiFi connections, claims it has clinched deals with several other Chinese cities to provide quality WiFi connections on their subways. According to a spokesman for Net Pro, quoted in the Chinese press “Even at peak hours and when the train is moving at 80 kilometers an hour, users have no difficulty browsing the Internet and watching films online.”

The company said feedback on trial operations of the service has been encouraging and Net Pro hopes to increase user numbers and boost advertising revenues from its service. The subway itself, has recorded peak figures of 285,000 riders per day. However, this number will increase as new stations and two new lines come on stream in the next two to three years.

BWCS is hosting a major global conference on WiFi on Trains in London on the 8th and 9th of June. The Conference will examine the expanding market for on-board WiFi services as well as the problems of intermittent mobile coverage and proposed trackside solutions.

For more information please see www.Traincomms2016.com or contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com  . Places are extremely limited and the event is selling out fast. Tickets will be distributed on a first come first serve basis.

The brochure and full running order is available from www.Traincomms2016.com .

The Conference is being sponsored by Icomera (Gold), Nomad Digital (Silver), BAI Communications (Bronze), 21Net, (Cocktails), Teldat (Lunch Day 1) and Radwin (Lunch Day 2).



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