High speed TGV trains get online
Wi-fi from Paris to Strasbourg at 320kmph...
Passengers on select high-speed TGV trains in France travelling eastbound from Paris at speeds of up to 320kmph can enjoy a fledgling wi-fi service for free - but don't expect the free connectivity lunch to last.
Wireless from A to Z
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A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee
SNCF, which operates the TGV fleet, started looking into the possibility of putting wi-fi on its trains more than four years ago - finally launching a test service in December 2007.
The service, which is still in its trial phase, offers TGV passengers with wi-fi-enabled devices unrestricted access to the internet at 2Mbps download and 512Kbps upload rates. An onboard internet connection is maintained by using a blend of satellite connectivity and wi-fi relays on the ground providing coverage in tunnels and at stations.
TGV trains can travel at a top speed of 320kmph, making the rollout of a viable onboard wi-fi internet service a "world first", according to SNCF. The system automatically switches to the wi-fi terminals - with a transmission range tweaked to cope with the high speeds - when the antenna on the train loses its line of sight with the Eutelsat satellite.
Frank Bernard, head of European business at SNCF, told silicon.com: "What we want to bring to [passengers] is a real, 100 per cent secure efficient [online] environment just like their office or at home. And the unique answer to that - although it's quite expensive - is bi-directional satellite to carry up and down all this data with no interruption."
The wi-fi service is currently available to first and second class passengers free of charge on three TGV trains including an international route travelling between France and Switzerland. It has been sampled by more than 7,000 passengers since kick off, according to SNCF.
In addition to internet access, the wi-fi-enabled trains have servers on board to run an entertainment portal for passengers offering regularly updated video content, games, news, city guides, geo-localisation data (the real-time location and speed of the train) and other multimedia content. The company envisages passengers being able to use the portal and onboard wi-fi to read up on their holiday destination and even buy tickets for local attractions.
But the onboard wi-fi offering is not going to be free forever.
Bernard said SNCF is still developing its wi-fi business plan but the commercial service is likely to carry a charge of between five and 10 euros per passenger per trip as the satellite solution is "quite expensive". The company is hoping the "rich multimedia" content offered by the portal will convince people to pay for the service. To this end, SNCF is in talks with content providers across Europe, Bernard added.
He said: "I know that surfing on the net works and it's not the great experience to be able to surf Google on the train. It's new because it's on the train but it's not in itself a brand new experience, so we are very focused on trying to find the future content on the portal itself."
But despite the cost involved in designing and implementing the high tech wireless web infrastructure on its trains - SNCF has poured €19m into the venture to date - and the gamble of whether travellers will be willing to put their hands in their pockets for wi-fi access, the train operator sees these onboard services as giving it an essential competitive edge.
Bernard said the wi-fi service is not intended to be "the new cash-cow" for TGV but will differentiate it from competing rail services and help it to gain le client fidèle.
However, the system may not yet be ready for its demanding public. Currently it can only support 50 passengers out of a total of 375 per train - or between 15 and 20 per cent of travellers. If more people end up wanting to connect on each train the infrastructure will have to be upgraded, Bernard concedes. And presumably that's not going to come cheap.
Bernard said SNCF's next move is likely to be rolling out the service to the entire TGV east fleet - some 52 trains. And after that the whole of the TGV France fleet - more than 400 trains - "if we decide to move forward".
He added: "But the key point is we have to build and make it very flexible in terms of technical points and commercial needs."