Wi-Fi on public transport is hot these days. The high-speed TGV service between Paris and Brussels will be launching Wi-Fi service on May 14 for trains traveling between those cities, expanding the service later to trains going all the way to Amsterdam.

On the other side of the world, Malaysian luxury bus operator, Odyssey Prestige Coaches, is adding free Wi-Fi service to the buses that run between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (350 kilometers, 4 hours). The buses are equipped with wide leather reclining seats, tables, AC power for laptops, movies on demand and gourmet meals. This reminds me of the luxury bus service between Riga and Tallinn, which takes five hours and also has Wi-Fi.

Passengers can expect up to 3.6 Mbps on the Singapore-Kualu Lumpur bus. To provide backhaul for the onboard Wi-Fi network, they are using the 3G network of Celcom or Maxis. In addition, the bus company will use the Wi-Fi/3G combination for in-bus CCTV and telematics data gathering, as well as built-in GPS for real-time fleet tracking.

Jim Baker, founder of Moovera Networks, the provider of the wireless access points for the buses, says that public transport services lasting over an hour are ideal places for providing in-vehicle Wi-Fi access. He also says that “Malaysian cellular operators are rapidly expanding high-speed wireless data coverage in urban areas and alongside major arterial roads throughout the country. Since the Moovera access points are field-upgradeable to support emerging backhaul technologies such as WiMAX, transport operators like Odyssey will always be able to offer their passengers Wi-Fi Internet connections.”

The Odyssey deployment was designed and managed by Webkey Systems Sdn Bhd (Moovera’s Channel Partner in Malaysia and the surrounding region). Webkey Systems will equip up to fifteen Scania K94IB4 high decker vehicles with the Moovbox M Series device by early next year; an initial five Wi-Fi enabled vehicles went into service today.

Tags: malaysia, moovera

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