for February 4, 2008
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Hot Topic: Wi-Fi - Planes, Trains... and BART!
That's
right, Bay Area Rapid Transit is testing onboard and station installations
of Internet connectivity via public Wi-Fi. Before we get ahead of ourselves,
our thesis here should be noted: Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity is coming
to fixed public installations while surface and airborne transportation
systems are all showing signs pointing to increased travel connectivity.
This is good, very good for the road warrior.
Our Hot Topic is about the San Francisco Bay Are Rapid Transit testing program so we contacted the President of the system developer WiFi Rail (wifirail.net), Michael Cromar, and he told IFExpress; "We are a start-up. This BART demonstration test installation was required to prove the technology described in our four patent applications. It has required a year to complete the installation in four downtown SF stations and the 2.6 mile BART Hayward Test Track. We are working on getting an agreement with BART to install the full network, system wide. We are also in process of raising the substantial funds that will be required. Further, we believe our technology is different than anything installed in any rail system in the world and capable of much greater bandwidth than heretofore seen. A number of rail and transit systems in the both the US, Europe and Asia have tried various technology solutions but so far it appears what those combinations of technology, generally 3G, WiMax, Satellite, Edge don’t produce enough value for the cost." He went on to say; "Our purpose designed network architecture creates a WLAN (802.11 g (n to come) in the transit corridor, that is capable of supporting a broader range of high speed, network dependent services for the rail operator, in addition to passenger WiFi. Our business model is a subscriber based one, and pricing will be comparable to the market for Hotspot subscriptions."
From a technology perspective, WiFi Rail is using a fiber-based backbone with amplifiers (solar powered in some cases) and lossy coax feeds in tunnels, microwave dishes on the right-of-way, and access points (AP's) on the trains. We asked Michael about technology and security issues and he said; "The distance between the antennas is optimized so that the next antenna picks up so the roaming event takes place without being noticed during typical web usage, uploads, downloads, etc. Typically the signal is directed along the path, so spillover is minimized. We also tune the system to the access points aboard the train And yes, security is addressed. Subscribers register and obtain user names and passwords, security is pretty well covered." One blogger noted that 15 Mbps up (and down) would be available to users and this big bandwidth margin was provided for more than just casual business and travel usage (think TSA). You should note that this feature may spill over to aircraft applications as well.
Dig Deeper Links
WiFi Rail News Release http://www.wifirail.com/pages/news.html
BART Sightings http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002707.php
BART Wi-Fi Blog http://blog.matthewgast.com/2007/04/26/wifi-on-bart/
WiFiNetNews.com http://wifinetnews.com/archives/008153.html
Last Minute Thoughts: Noting that
JetBlue is selling A3xx aircraft and the fact that there were sightings of
airline bigwigs at Embraer, what is their IFE future? Better still, what
will the operational direction of JetBlue become...and for that matter,
LiveTV? Think about it!
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Hawaiian Airlines signs firm
order for 12 Airbus widebodies contract includes six A350 XWBs
2/4/2008 8:51:53 PM
Aircraft Interiors Expo gears
up for its seventh successful year in Hamburg
2/4/2008 8:40:50 PM
Boeing Reports Record
Revenues, Earnings, Cash Flow & Backlog for 2007
2/4/2008 8:39:18 PM
Airbus completes first test
flight with alternative fuel on civil aircraft
2/4/2008 8:35:56 PM
Harald Wilhelm appointed
Airbus Chief Financial Officer
2/4/2008 8:34:59 PM
IFExpress is sponsored in part
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2007 great
year, 2008 even better: Airbus CEO
eTravel Blackboard
James
Wallace on Aerospace: ANA's Plans
Seattle P-I
Boeing
fortifies Dreamliner leadership
Seattle Times
Thales aims
for 80 pct market share of Airbus A350 XWB in-flight entertainment
Forbes
Naked On A
Plane
Jaunted
In-Flight
Wi-Fi Not A Must For Business Travelers
WebProNews
Continental
Airlines to offer onboard Wi-Fi, live television on domestic flights
Mac Daily News
IFExpress is sponsored in part
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Aircraft Interiors Expo - Hamburg
4/1/2008 - 4/3/2008
WAEA
Week in Dubai
4/21/2008 - 4/24/2008
8th
Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2008)
5/20/2008 - 5/22/2008
WAEA
29th Annual Conference and Exhibition
9/8/2008 - 9/11/2008
Aircraft Interiors Expo - Americas
9/9/2008 - 9/11/2008
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