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Wi-Fi for Passenger Rail Muniwireless MeetUp, June 29th 2010

Hosted by
Jim Baker
About the presenter

‣ Jim Baker, Managing Partner @ Xenventure

‣ Market Strategy, Human Capital, Private Equity

‣ Background in wireless & video streaming technology

‣ Chief Marketing Officer @ Icomera until June 2010

jim@xenventure.com ‣ Founder & CEO @ Moovera, designer of cellular gateways

Twitter ‣ Founder & CEO @ Telabria, pre-WiMAX ISP in the UK


@jnb65
‣ VP Services @ Media 100, Inc (NASDAQ:MDEA)
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jnb65
‣ Columnist/commentator for Muniwireless, MassTransit.com

‣ Member, Joint Council for Transit Wireless Communications


Rail Transport – Leading Markets

#1
Western Europe
#2 #3
NAFTA Asia/Pacific

APAC to surpass NAFTA by 2016


Mass Transit – Facts & Figures

‣ Rail and Bus passenger transport is a growing sector

‣ Ridership in the US has grown 32% since 1995

‣ 34 million trips each day, >175,000 vehicles in service

‣ $6.9 billion committed to equip new transport projects

‣ $8 billion for passenger intercity rail projects

‣ Congressionally-mandated rail safety measures by 2015

‣ Passenger expectation for always-on connectivity

‣ Operator demand for ‘connected’ fleet is increasing


Application-Driven Demand
Moving from Narrowband to Broadband

‣ Bandwidth-intensive applications driving move to broadband


‣ Aggregation & seamless switching between multiple networks
‣ Striving for always-on connectivity
Anatomy of the Connected Train

WAN Antenna WAN Antenna


(Diversity) Main + GPS

Wi-Fi Hotspot Wi-Fi Hotspot


Antenna 2.4GHz 5GHz 5GHz Antenna
AP Client
2.4GHz Antenna Multiplexer
Access
Access and Amplication
Dual Mode WLAN Point
Point
Car Bridge

Passenger Antenna
Brain Car
Protected

EV-DO
WiMAX
HSPA

GPS
PSU

Car Ethernet
Slave EBA Master EBA
PoE
Cellular Gateway Protected
PSU
Train Power Supply
Switch
Train Power Supply

‣ Cellular Gateway – manages multiple network connections


‣ Antenna Array – amplification and multiplexing
‣ Bridging Network – connects carriages together, wired or wireless
‣ Ethernet Network – connects on-board systems
‣ Wi-Fi Network – connects passengers and staff
Anatomy of the Connected Train

WAN Antenna WAN Antenna


(Diversity) Main + GPS

Wi-Fi Hotspot
Antenna 2.4GHz Antenna Multiplexer
Access and Amplication
Point

Brain Car

EV-DO
WiMAX
HSPA

GPS
Ethernet

PoE
Cellular Gateway Protected
PSU
Switch
Train Power Supply
Anatomy of the Connected Train

Wi-Fi Hotspot Wi-Fi Hotspot


Antenna 2.4GHz 5GHz 5GHz Antenna
AP Client
2.4GHz
Access
Access
Dual Mode WLAN Point
Point
Car Bridge

Passenger Antenna
Brain Car
Protected
PSU

Car Slave EBA Master EBA

Train Power Supply PoE


Switch
Bandwidth needed by trains, 2018

Operational
11% Internet Access and Infotainment
89%
‣ Bandwidth demand by 2018 will be huge
‣ Priority for meeting demand is in rural areas
where backhaul networks are scarce and/or
lack adequate provisioning
Source: BWCS, May 2010
Evolution to IP-based Networks
Clearwire & Sprint boost M2M apps
Case Study – Amtrak Acela

‣ Solution designed by Nomad Rail and GBS


‣ Four concurrent 3G carriers; aggregation/switching
‣ 3-3.5Mbps DL available for FREE passenger Wi-Fi
‣ 500Kbps – 1Mbps UL
‣ Total aggregate throughput of up to 7Mbps observed
‣ Typically 200ms latency
‣ WiMAX on roadmap for service enhancement

802.11n used by Nomad


for inter-car links
on some deployments
Case Study – Amtrak Acela

‣ Active marketing following launch


‣ Seat back card with instructions
Case Study – Amtrak Acela

‣ Active marketing following launch


‣ Seat back card with instructions

‣ Clarity regarding on-train connectivity


‣ Published coverage maps
Case Study – Amtrak Acela

‣ Active marketing following launch


‣ Seat back card with instructions

‣ Clarity regarding on-train connectivity


‣ Published coverage maps

‣ Portal splash page with branding


Case Study – Amtrak Acela

‣ Active marketing following launch


‣ Seat back card with instructions

‣ Clarity regarding on-train connectivity


‣ Published coverage maps

‣ Portal splash page with branding

‣ Portal landing page with content

Very positive response from customers with 35% uptake


Case Study – Amtrak Acela
Case Study – Amtrak Acela
Acela – Challenges & Lessons Learned
Challenges Pre-Launch Lessons Learned

!  Restricted to wireless car-to-car and !  Educate and deploy on-board staff to


intra-car links support the launch
!  Limited external mounting space for
antennas !  Minimize content filtering to the extent
possible
!  Availability of trains not guaranteed
!  Augment available backhaul by using Wi-Fi
!  Long equipment lead times at the stations
Challenges Post-Launch
!  Block streaming video and large file
!  Spotty cellular coverage in rural areas downloads to conserve bandwidth
and tunnels
!  Work with cellular providers during design
!  Too many customers logging in following and test phases to better understand
boarding process connectivity issues
!  Striking the right content filtering balance
between too restrictive and too loose !  FREE service is appreciated, but
performance is degraded
!  Availability of sufficient data to correlate
user experience with actual system !  Long project development lead-times
performance means upgrades may be required; plan
and budget for it
Western Europe – Example Metrics

‣ 52 electric Pendolino trains, 9 carriages per train set

‣ 21 Super Voyager trains, 4-5 carriages

‣ Carries 70,000 passengers per day

‣ London to Scotland, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham

‣ Wi-Fi free to First Class, standard T-Mobile rates to Standard

‣ Over 100,000 sessions per month, 80/20 First Class vs Standard

‣ Average session length 70-80 minutes

‣ Average traffic 18-20MB per session

‣ Future network use for CCTV, OTMR, infotainment


Western Europe – Example Metrics

‣ State-owned railway in Sweden

‣ Conducts 90% of passenger rail service in the country

‣ Carries 110,000 passengers per day

‣ Wi-Fi free to First Class, Pay-Per-Use in Standard

‣ Over 80,000 users per month

‣ Average session length 90 minutes

‣ Average traffic 39MB per user

‣ Move to 4TB on-train media servers, in-station syncing


Western Europe – Example Metrics

‣ Fleet of 26 trains serving Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam & Cologne

‣ 600,000 users since launch in October 2008

‣ Uses combination of two-way satellite and cellular

‣ New €40m project with NTV Italy launches in September 2011

‣ 25 new Alstom trains expected to serve 10m customers/year

‣ Running from Salerno to Venice and Turin

‣ Wi-Fi and systems communications pre-installed at factory


India – Internet for Trains

‣ Metrics for mobile phone use dwarf the West


‣ Installed base of over 600,000,000 users
‣ Growing by 20 million per month
‣ Aging GSM networks unsuitable for data
‣ Mobile Internet usage less than 12 million in 2009
‣ 3G and WiMAX auctions ended in 2010
‣ Wireless broadband coming in 2011

‣ Indian Ministry of Railways is world’s largest operator


‣ 14,000 trains per day
‣ Target to install Wi-Fi on short-haul trains by end 2011
Vendor Opportunities
‣ Intelligent Cellular Gateways
• Aggregate and switch between different networks

• Industrial grade, ruggedized and compliant

• Technology-agnostic for plug and play

‣ Mesh Access Points


• Trackside/Platform and On-Train/Inter-Carriage networks

• Future inclusion of cellular/M2M modules

‣ Advertising Capability for Revenue Generation


‣ Within Wi-Fi hotspot and PIS displays
Application Opportunities
$10 billion cost by 2015

Source: Nokia Siemens Networks


Challenges
‣ Make passengers passionate about using mass transit
• Enhance perceived value with useful amenities
‣ Availability of suitable spectrum in sufficient bandwidth
‣ Unification of standards for global use
• Roadmap to LTE-R using GSM-R as model
• Collaboration with leading telcoms suppliers e.g. Alcatel Lucent
• Liaison between vendors and transit operators
‣ Education throughout the value chain
• Create blueprint for transit industry with ‘best practice’ guide
• Maintain constant dialog between key stakeholders
Thank you.

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