04/12/2008
Always ‘ON’: Internet on the TrainThe report
FITCE.be organized successfully its last event of 2008 on December 4th. The event focused on recent developments in providing internet access on trains.
More and more professional and consumer applications rely heavily on access to the Internet.
Virtual Private Networks, e-mail and web access, social community networks, content sharing, … are just a few of the many Internet applications that require a constant access to the Internet.
But getting connected everywhere, anytime still remains a challenge for communication networks, especially when traveling on a train at high speeds.
The presentations discussed the following topics:
- The general architecture : WLAN access for travelers inside the train and use of different communication technologies to connect the moving train with the fixed backbone internet.
- Train - backbone internet connection options: (1) satellite, (2) Cellular (GPRS/EDGE/UMTS), (3) wireless data networks (WLAN, WiMax, Flash OFDM).
- Current deployments of Internet access on trains (France, Sweden, UK, USA, ...).
- Example of a business case for deploying Internet on trains in Belgium.
- The technical solution used on the Thalys trains as implemented by Nokia Siemens Networks, 21Net and Telenet based on a combination of bidirectional satellite, WLAN and UMTS.
- The current experience with the commercial offering on the Thalys trains: customer satisfaction, service uptake, service offering (first and second class).
From a technical point of view, connectivity to the internet typically requires a combination of wireless technologies (e.g satellite, WLAN and UMTS) in order to obtain full coverage in open air, tunnels, railway stations and city environments.
From a business perspective, it is clear that railway operators attracting a lot of business customers on relative long journeys see internet access as a key service offered to their customers. In other cases (e.g shorter journeys, non-business passengers) the business cases are more difficult but still feasible. There is a general consensus that Internet access on trains will be a key requirement in our Internet driven society.
Presentations
Fitce Presentation: Internet on The Train
Thalys Presentation
Nokia Siemens Network Presentation
Prof. Piet De Meester
The speakers: Mrs Veronique Lajoie (Thalys); Piet De Meester (UG-IBBT); Alain De Cort (NSN)
Interactive audience
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