Irish Rail to Bopp to the Wi-Fi beat?

16-06-2008

by Emmet Ryan

Iarnrod Eireann has confirmed to ENN that it will meet with a Birr-based businessman about potentially installing Wi-Fi on all Irish trains.

Evert Bopp, who originally hails from the Netherlands, has offered to provide a wireless internet service to the rail operator free of charge through his business Airappz.

"We'll be meeting him to discuss the proposal," Barry Kenny, corporate communications manager with Iarnrod Eireann told ENN. Kenny said that the rail operator could not comment further on the proposal until after it had discussed the matter with Bopp.

The move represents a potentially dramatic turnaround by the rail operator. In May Iarnrod Eireann said it was not considering installing Wi-Fi on its trains. At the time of this announcement, however, the rail operator also stated that it would be open to altering this view in the near future. The Airappz service might just be the factor that changes Iarnrod Eireann's stance.

The Birr-based business was formed by Bopp last year. Under Bopp's plan the firm would provide the service free of charge to Iarnrod Eireann and generate revenue through advertising. The Airappz system directs web users to a captive portal site upon logging on, a site which automatically acts as the homepage for users of the service.

"This portal displays location-based ads and information," Bopp told ENN. "If a train is coming into Waterford station then the information provided will be on Waterford and ads for restaurants and hotels in the area will be displayed."

Airappz hopes to provide download speeds of around 2Mbps to users of the service but Bopp said the firm would not be able to get an accurate reading on the potential speeds available until tests were carried out on Irish trains.

Should the rail operator give the green light to the Airappz plan then the first trains using the system could see Wi-Fi installed within two to three months of a deal being agreed between Iarnrod Eireann and Bopp.

"Our plan is to put it [Wi-Fi] into every train in the country," said Bopp. This would cover all national, regional, commuter and DART services operated by Iarnrod Eireann. The Airappz plan would initially see the system introduced on major national routes.