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Icomera Gathers User Sessions Aplenty
(10 Nov 2008, BWCS Staff)Swedish/UK WiFi on transport provider Icomera, has announced that it has recorded over 3.5 million user sessions on its worldwide mobile Internet access systems. The company, which works with train, bus, coach and ferry operators, offers Internet access to passengers, while also delivering high-speed connectivity to on-board systems such as CCTV, ticketing and GPS-based vehicle tracking.
By the end of October this year, Icomera reported that just over one million passengers had used its WiFi services on the various transport fleets where it is available. The number of total sessions: 3.72 million marked an increase of over 272% on the figure for the 12 month period to October 2007. Icomera's customers include Arriva, First Group, National Express, Stagecoach and Go-Ahead.
The WiFi provider said that on average its WiFi sessions on trains last 83 minutes, while the average session on road-based installations such as commuter bus and coach routes is around 30 minutes. WiFi usage across all Icomera installations is now running at over 50,000 sessions per week.
One of its most popular on-board WiFi services is the National Express East Coast (NXEC) intercity rail route from London King's Cross to the Scottish Highlands via Edinburgh. NXEC has equipped 43 trains with free WiFi hotspot services to all passengers, and has seen over 1.3 million sessions since December 2007, with an average online time of 70 minutes. The overall uptake of WiFi across NXEC passengers is around 9%, with an estimated 85% of laptop-carrying passengers opting to use the free service at some point during their journey.
According to Rachel Dawson, sales and marketing director at National Express East Coast, moving to free WiFi has meant a "Significant though not unexpected jump in usage." She went on, "A major advantage of choosing the train over alternatives such as driving or flying is the ability to stay connected to the Internet throughout the journey. Icomera's technological approach to delivering an always-on connection has been fundamental to the success of the initiative, and has proved extremely important to our business passengers who rely on Internet access to make the most of their journey time."
Icomera offers the Moovbox range of backhaul-agnostic communications gateways supporting concurrent satellite, cellular and road- or track-side networks in a single in-vehicle system that automatically switches to use the strongest wide area network signal without session interruption. Icomera also provides fixed and nomadic gateways for municipal wireless, public safety and enterprise applications.
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