Wireless Access to the Internet at 300 Km/h
Deutsche Bahn and T-Mobile share a common goal: the first wireless Internet access in an ICE train. As part of the joint Railnet project, a pilot trial will be launched this year, where this technology is installed in high-speed trains. By summer, 20 large stations will also be fully equipped as so-called Hotspots. Travelers will be able to access the Internet wirelessly with mobile computers in all public areas. T-Mobile will also assume responsibility for operating the highly successful existing "rail&mail" W-LAN service in DB lounges.
The Deutsche Bahn and T-Mobile's pilot trial will be launched in Autumn of this year between Cologne and Dortmund. Passengers in selected ICE trains with W-LAN enabled laptops and PDA phones (Personal Digital Assistant) will be able to surf the Internet, send and receive e-mails and access their company network on their trip along the stretch between the two cities. The service also features an information offering for all travelers which is available on a server installed in the ICE. This is planned to include news and all important services on the train and at the station.
Once the pilot phase has been successfully completed, Railnet is to be extended to all ICE trains throughout Germany from 2006. An average of 150,000 people use Deutsche Bahn's high-speed trains on a daily basis.
T-Mobile and Deutsche Bahn are working together with T-Systems on testing Railnet on board ICEs. The company is responsible for selecting the technology and planning the solution.
The online service in ICE trains and at stations will not only be available to T-Mobile subscribers but all travelers. Prices will be based on the existing T-Com and T-Mobile W-LAN HotSpot offering. As part of this, target groups will be offered optimized prices for different customer requirements. This starts with credit-card billing for "occasional" users and extends to "no worries packages" for customers who also want to transmit mobile data via GPRS and UMTS in addition to using W-LAN technology.
If the response is positive, Deutsche Bahn and T-Mobile want to extend this service to the 80 biggest stations in Germany."
Posted to the site on 28th March 2005
