Premium WIFI access for my passengers, how can I achieve that goal?

Every day mobile communications, especially the Internet connectivity is more important. People demand more and better data and communication services. We have very clear and proven examples who explain how suitable internet connectivity service may report an increase in the number of customers and their loyalty to our company.

The pioneers in offering such services to their customers were hotels, offering its customers free WiFi Internet Service. No delay in joining the industry, and latterly other businesses such as restaurants or cafes and finally entire cities offered this service through the support of their local authorities. There´s no doubt regarding the strong i trend towards a permanent internet connectivity clearly demanded by all of us.

This new service has being introduced in the bus sector a few years ago . Although it is still at an early stage in Europe, the data show a clear trend for operators to offer Internet onboard. Today we can say that internet onboard buses and trains is a reality specially in those countries where connectivity & passenger mobility is a standard, not an exception branded as “luxury”.

How can I make profitable the investement?

The first thought that may have a bus operator when considering whether or not to offer this service to its passengers is linked to the idea regarding the possibility of make the investment required profitable. Here the focus has to be innovative and not traditional because rarely an operator may charge an extra fee for the wifi service available on board so it will be a free service.

So how can I make profitable the investment?

The answer is simple, this is an additional and high added value service that will allow the operator to be more competitive , differentiating from competitors that offering similar prices, do not provide the Wifi service to their passengers. The result will be an increase in the number of passengers attracted by the service more than an extra income coming from the use of the service.

Why passenger require a premium wifi service?

We need to be clear how different factors and type of service affect extremely the perception regarding the service offered by the bus companies:

• Since the service is offered in mobile environments , mobile devices are susceptible to have poor signal reception so a good wifi system will improve your browsing experience .
• If among the company passengers we can find foreign passengers who disable their data access usually to avoid high roaming costs, the necessity of a good wifi service onboard is a must because many times this is the only way they have to be connected.
• For Tour Operators who conduct services all around Europe, there are cluster solutions that enable the operator to offer its passengers internet without pay roaming. In this case the wifi service takes much more important than any other because it is an important need.
• Also the service in required in some sort of special services like congresses , conventions, university events where the people involved need to have a good internet access.

What is WIFI SYSTEM?

After all we have discussed here, what is essentially a wifi system? Basically it is a router with mobile data connection, inside houses a SIM card from any network operator with a data contract. But just following the basic definition we could take the example of a bus, the basic definition is a chassis with bodywork, and as we all know, that is a very broad and has many important variants.

Key Factors to select a good wifi service

• What type of transportation service is performed? Is it discretionary? Did the company cross several countries? Or maybe it is regularly and subsidized ticket price? Here there are a number of variants to keep in mind because they are decisive when considering the selection of one or another solution.
• The profile of my customers require high internet access speed? Maybe we may need to raise a 4G solution.
• Do I want to have control of my wifi system? to know to what extent it is used and how is it used? This is important for transportation companies where there is a quality department developed or companies without such a department but with a culture focused on service  &quality. 
• Does the system would be implemented in a large fleet of vehicles? If so we need a centralized solution in order to manage and monitor the whole system.

As we can see, the choice of a wireless system is not a trivial issue and several aspects must be taken into account in order to ascertain the best solution and not regret in the future of the decision taken. It is common to see how all these aspects are analyzed retrospectively, in many cases when the decision has benn taken incorrectly, which means an extra investment in order to install the wifi solution according to the needs of the transport operator.
In upcoming posts, we will know more about wireless systems and we will detailed aspects to keep in mind when deciding what is best for our needs.