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WiFi startup proposes free network to San Fran's BART
A WiFi startup is again peddling the idea of free WiFi. W-Fi Rail is negotiating with the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) to build a free network that can be accessed by riders throughout BART's 104-mile regional rail system. The network would only be free to BART and would be paid for by rider subscriptions and advertising.
Wi-Fi Rail, which says it has four pending patents that have to do with deploying WiFi for use on railways and roads, believes public transit offers a better business case than municipal wireless as the service would have a daily user base, those who commute to work every day. Company CFO Michael Cromar believes that about 20 percent of BART's some 180,000 riders would subscribe to such a service within three years. The monthly fee would range between $20 and $30.
Wi-Fi Rail has been testing the system for about a year on a stretch of track in downtown San Francisco as well as on an outdoor test track. According to Cromar, more than 9,000 people have signed up to use the system and have signed on more than 42,000 times.
To find out more about Wi-Fi Rail and its plans in San Fran:
- check out this article from IDG News Service
Related stories:
- EarthLink officially pulls plug on muni-WiFi business. See this EarthLink story
- MetroFi considers sale and end to muni-WiFi projects. See this MetroFi story
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Comments
Posted by Linton Johnson | May 27, 2008 - 3:08pm
There are a few clarifications needed in this story:
-BART has 365,000 riders each workday, not 180,000 as the story says.
-BART will indeed require that a level of service be free to the rider. That free service will be paid with ads.
-Also, BART will require WiFi Rail to open its network to any company wishing to provide wifi access to BART riders so customers aren't stuck on one system.
Check out the presentation detailing these facts to the BART Board of Directors at its May 22, 2008 meeting at http://www.bart.gov/about/bod/meetings.asp
Linton Johnson
BART Chief Spokesperson
