Internet goes mobile in trams - Deutsche Telekom and Stadtwerke Bonn test broadband Internet access in trams - field test until May 2005 - mobile HotSpot with flexible Internet access via various mobile networks - SWB managing director, Prof. Zemlin: "future-oriented project".
Reliably call up and send e-mails, timetables, news, music and videos from the Internet while in the tram: Deutsche Telekom AG and Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) (public services provider in Bonn) are using the number 66 tram line in Bonn to showcase the services that will be available to public transport customers via mobile Internet access in the future. Until May this year, both partners are testing broadband access in one of the 15 trams that travel along the line between Siegburg and Bad Honnef, also known as the "Telekom-Express." On this route, which is roughly one hour long, passengers can use their own laptops, PDAs or cell phones to conveniently and individually surf and communicate. Deutsche Telekom provides secure and cost-effective online access via a mobile HotSpot, which, subject to availability, uses various mobile networks, such as GPRS, UMTS and W-LAN.
SWB managing director, Prof. Hermann Zemlin, considers the project to be future-oriented: "Particularly with regard to the sustained protection of our environment, we depend on making local public transport attractive for passengers nowadays, also through innovative service offerings. With the support of Deutsche Telekom, we are therefore pleased to be taking a pioneering role in this regard in Germany."
A special communication and content server in one of the trams on the 66 line is at the core of the solution. As with HotSpots in cafés and at airports, passengers set up a connection to the vehicle server via W-LAN or Bluetooth technology. Users can access local information and entertainment services at speeds of up to six Mbit/s. They can also access the Internet using an identification code and password. During the journey, the server automatically searches for the fastest connection to mobile networks (GPRS, UMTS) or to the W-LAN network, which both partners have installed along the line especially to ensure extremely fast access in the tram.
Dr. Klaus Radermacher, Head of Innovation Management at the Innovation central unit of Deutsche Telekom, explained that users, however, do not notice the seamless handover between various mobile networks: "On the contrary, the solution works like a mobile HotSpot that travels with the passengers. Its ensures that passengers are able to use services on a faster, more reliable and cost-effective basis than would be possible if each device were to try to establish a direct connection to the Internet."
Up-to-date news, e-mail processing, timetable information, music, videos, games or advertisements: the solutions opens up many new and attractive options for mobile services, for both users and providers. Business customers can also use the platform to set up an additional mobile "data tunnel" to their corporate network via VPN, thus enabling secure e-mail communication or data retrieval for business purposes while on the move. According to Prof. Zemlin, "This communication platform offers interesting prospects for transport companies in particular." He added, "It can, for instance, be used in the future to transmit the latest traffic news directly to trams."