Please find information about 

- planned projects
- prototypes / case studies
- market research
- projections of demand

for online connectivity in buses and trains, preferably throughout Western Europe.

The focus needs to be on buses, trains and metro, I am NOT looking for
information about airplane or in-car entertainment projects.

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 29 Nov 2003 09:24 PST

Hello Joliette, 
I noticed your question bad been lying around for some time, so I
decided to chip in some attention. I searched and found numerous
articles on the Internet describing projects of wi-fi and Internet
connectivity being installed in trains and buses, though many of them
are planned projects. Would a list of links to articles be enough as
an answer for you? How many articles or how much information do you
need or expect? Are you after some specific information about the
technology or market of this topic? Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 29 Nov 2003 09:25 PST

Your pardon, a correction: *"had been lying around..."

---

Clarification of Question by joliette-ga on 01 Dec 2003 02:01 PST

I am looking for case studies which give concrete market figures about
internet connectivity and also entertainment media (TV, movies, music,
news) in buses, trains, metros.
Having found already quite some planned projects with internet
connectivity myself, I am now particularly interested in business
models: how many travellers use a certain "project" or are likely to
use it in the future, how much do they have to pay for it or are they
willing to pay for it, how high are the expected revenues for the
transportation companies / hardware companies / content companies?
If you can find such "business models", your answer can consist of
only 1 or 2 of them.

---

Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 01 Dec 2003 22:10 PST

Hello Joliette,
I've been able to find other articles on the Web mentioning how much
passengers are willing to pay for train Internet in Europe, and the
expected market size for Internet on trains in the UK and Europe,
though nothing yet on buses. I also found places where you can
purchase reports on wi-fi in transportation, thought they will be
quite expensive. If I find the info on buses as well, would this be
enough for you as an answer?

---

Clarification of Question by joliette-ga on 02 Dec 2003 00:45 PST

Hello Techtor, 

that sounds very promising. Yes, if you can find similar information
for buses, that would be a very good answer!

Thank you.

Hello again Joliette,
I believe I've exhausted the most reliable free sources of information
on the subject, so I've decided to post my answer. It seems that
information on Internet on trains is easier to find, since it had been
implemented on a wider scale. But information on buses seems more
difficult to find, since there has been little Internet applied in
buses, and it doesn't seem to be looked at as a big market for
companies like trains are. Only luxury buses and shuttle buses have
Internet in them so far, and I haven't seen a separate calculation for
market size. Most often, wi-fi is the access form used in vehicles,
since there seems to be no other way anyway. So here, I'll present
what I've found.

Buses:
Boston.com / Business / Not your father's magic bus (Limoliner)
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/09/12/not_your_fathers_magic_bus/
- Passengers can connect laptops to an ethernet port in the bus. This
is a special Boston-New York luxury bus line.
- "Passengers -- only 28 for each bus, rather than the usual 55 --
will pay $69 each way for a round-trip ticket."

Post-Gazette.com - Luxury bus line targets Cleveland-bound fliers
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20020626bus0626p5.asp
- "Round-trip fares between Pittsburgh and Cleveland on ExecConnect
are $129; a one-way ticket for the 140-mile trip costs $74."

UCSD Blink: UCSD Unveils World?s First Bus With Mobile, High-Speed Internet Access
http://blink.ucsd.edu/Blink/External/Topics/Policy/0,1162,4389,00.html?delivery=&coming_from=

Broadband Bus News: Cal-(IT)² Project Showcases High-speed Mobile Web Access
http://www.calit2.net/news/2002/4-2-bbus.html

BBC NEWS | Technology | School bus offers web on the go
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2804915.stm

Bus Ride Magazine - September 2003 - High-tech gadgetry
http://www.busride.com/2003/09/Hightech_gadgetry.asp

Mobile Hotspots on Sydney Public Buses
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~ylic493/thesis/
- According to this, the application of Internet access on public
buses has not not yet been implemented yet, and studies on market
predictions may have not been made yet, or are not available for free.


Trains:
Historical Ramblings: WiFi on Trains, Part II:
http://www.urbanthought.com/blog/archives/000143.html
- "Back to the issue of WiFi on trains, a new report indicates that
train travelers worldwide are expected to spend at least $420 million
annually on in-transit WiFi service by 2008. And they expect at least
625 million people to travel on WiFi-enabled trains each year."

ZDNet UK - News - All aboard for Wi-Fi trains?:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/mobile/0,39020360,2135177,00.htm
- "Wi-Fi on trains has significant commercial potential, according to
Graham Wilde, director of research group BWCS. Wilde told an audience
at The Wireless LAN Event that the total European market could be
worth nearly £400m a year by 2007... BWCS found that most potential
Wi-Fi users said they would be prepared to pay up to £5 for their
wireless access... Given current laptop take-up, the UK's train Wi-Fi
market is worth about £6m this year. BWCS estimates this will rise to
£47m by 2007, with the overall European market then being worth
£394m..."

The Register - GNER to spend £1m on Wi-Fi trains
Posted: 15/08/2003
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/32351.html
- "The price for the service has not yet been released, but research
from BWCS released in May found that most potential Wi-Fi users said
they would be prepared to pay up to £5 for wireless access on a train
journey. The company said that given current laptop take-up, the UK's
train Wi-Fi market is worth about £6 million this year. According to
BWCS estimates, this will rise to £47 million by 2007. The total
European market could be worth nearly £400 million a year by 2007."

Train Hotspots, August 28, 2003 - Railway Wireless LAN Services
http://www.webdesk.com/train-hotspots/
- "By 2008, train travellers will be spending 420 million dollars per
year on in-transit wireless LAN hotspot services..."
This looks like a US, if not world figure.

ZDNet UK - News - Wi-Fi rollout on trains needs passenger push, by
Graeme Wearden, ZDNet UK, August 29, 2003
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020348,39116019,00.htm
- "Research group BWCS estimated this week that by 2008 rail
travellers will be spending £266m per year on on-board wireless LAN
hot spot services "

MishMash: GNER trains to get WiFi
http://hamish.blogs.com/mishmash/2003/08/gner_trains_to_.html
- £5 per wi-fi access per ride. 

Intel, Bell Canada And Via Rail Canada Bring Wireless Internet Access To Trains
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20030709net_a.htm

Railway Technology - Icomera Enters the UK with their Wi-Fi Solution
for Trains! - 11 August 2003
http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/entertainment/icomera/press1.html

Railway Technology - Icomera - Real-Time Internet Services Onboard Trains
http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/entertainment/icomera/
- Further info on the above Icomera solution

Internet on trains soon - BS Bureau in Chennai | November 15, 2003
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/nov/15net.htm

Railtel Corporation of India Ltd - Railways to introduce Internet on
trains, 27 June 2003, UNI
http://www.railtelindia.com/news/uni_27june.htm

PointShot Wireless Press Releases: Wi-Fi Rides the Rails
By Ed Sutherland 
http://www.pointshotwireless.com/resources/news/0307231.htm

PointShot Wireless Press Releases: Altamont Commuter Express and
PointShot Wireless To Launch First-Ever Wi-Fi Train Access in the
United States
http://www.pointshotwireless.com/resources/press/0308251.htm

SAT Expo 2003 - Internet in the carriage; Satellite miracles
http://www.satexpo.it/en/news-new.php/5?c=9301

Wi-Fi Planet - Wi-Fi Rides the Rails, July 23, 2003
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/print.php/2239201

ZDNet UK - News - Virgin leaps on board with Wi-Fi
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/mobile/0,39020360,2135519,00.htm

Financial Express, India: South Central railway starts Internet
trials, by Nitya Varadarajan, March 21, 2000
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/20000321/efe21005.html


Others:
Next Magic Inc. -COOLSPOT One-
http://www.nextmagic.com/en/coolspot.htm
- Internet technology you can use on the move. 

Computer Times - Technology:  Hotspots on the MRT? No, thanks, by
Hellen Tan,  Sept 3, 2003
http://computertimes.asiaone.com.sg/columns/story/0,5104,1279,00.html
- Opinion article about Internet on the trains, a bit of an anti opinion.

Forrester Research - Press Resources: Forrester Thinks Public WLAN
Hotspots Will Be The Next Dot-Com Crash, June, 2003
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,806,00.html


Purchaseable reports:
Northern Sky Research-Market Research Reports
http://www.northernskyresearch.com/reports/WIFI/tablecontents.html


Google search terms used:
internet connection passenger train
internet connection bus
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internet connectivity railway train
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internet connectivity passenger train business model
trains study wi-fi
trains market wi-fi
wi-fi passenger bus
internet access passenger bus
internet access passenger bus market
internet access passenger train research
internet access train research
internet access bus research

I hope this has been a most helpful answer. If you need anything else,
or have a problem with the answer, do please post a Request for
Clarification before rating and I shall respond as soon as I can.
Thank you.

Very comprehensive and quick answer. Thank you.