Swedish Bus Service Offers In-Coach Wi-Fi Coverage
Sweden's Swebus Express - the dominant long-distance express bus service - has launched a Wi-Fi service in eighty of its coaches, powered by Moovera Networks. The mobile Wi-Fi hotspot deployment, which is the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, will include routes with stops throughout southern and central Sweden as well as neighboring Norway and Denmark. Swebus Express, a subsidiary of Concordia Bus Nordic, will also utilize the Moovbox to connect ticket machines on each bus to the Internet, and provide GPS-based fleet location monitoring.
"Increased competition in the public transport sector has led Swebus to examine ways in which we can differentiate ourselves from other operators," said Joakim Palmkvist, Managing Director of Swebus Express. "Providing Internet connectivity to our entire fleet introduces a technology platform on which we can build new and innovative services that not only benefit our passengers but also improve the way our fleet operates. We chose the Moovbox from Moovera primarily as it offered the widest range of features at the most cost-effective price point."
The backhaul for the Wi-Fi service is being provided by Hutchinson 3G based on its HSDPA network.
"We're delighted to have been selected by Swebus Express for this landmark roll out of in-vehicle Internet," said Jim Baker, Moovera CEO and founder. "Such a major commitment to this technology from Sweden's largest player is clear evidence that public transport is the new major market for public Wi-Fi hotspots and the ancillary services that in-bus Internet connectivity enables." Recent research has shown that public Wi-Fi hotspot usage grew by over 142% in Europe in 2006/2007, and that the venue type with the greatest growth was Public Transport with a 238% increase during the same period (source iPass Mobile Broadband Index, March 2008).
Posted to the site on 2nd July 2008
