Agreement reached to offer free WiFi at Barcelona TRAM
3 MARCH 2015. BARCELONA.- Today a six-month trial was launched at TRAM Barcelona (Spain) through which the T1, T2 and T3 tramlines will be able to offer free WiFi to its users. The service provided by Fon (WiFi for Business) will begin the same week as the Mobile World Congress, and it has been possible thanks to the agreement executed with three top high-tech companies: Intel, ADmira and Fon.
Once the trial period is over, and depending on its success (number of connections to the WiFi system reached on this trial period), the rest of the TRAM units -36 additional convoys will be equipped, meaning TRAM will be the first rail company operating in Barcelona’s metropolitan area to make WiFi available for users in all its vehicles.
In 2008, TRAM commenced a trial with five tramways on its system. At that time smartphones were not as popular as they are now and due to the low number of users that connected to the system, it was decided not to extend the system to the rest of the TRAM network tramways.
Now leaders in the tech and mobile sectors – Fon, Intel, ADmira and Veniam – have made this new trial possible. ADmira has integrated the two technologies needed to make this happen: Veniam’s solution for connected vehicles and Fon’s WiFi layer and user authentication. Intel has sponsored the technological equipment.
About Fon:
Fon was founded in February 2006 by serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky with the goal of blanketing the world with WiFi. Today the company is a global WiFi leader with more than 14 million hotspots in more than 200 countries. Fon has offices in Madrid, London, Tokyo and New York. Its partners include among others; BT (UK), Deutsche Telekom (Germany), KPN (Netherlands), Proximus (Belgium), MWEB (South Africa), Oi (Brazil), SoftBank (Japan) and Telstra (Australia). Fon’s vision is to be “always on, always on the move”, innovating with new devices such as Gramofon, the WiFi music player awarded as Best WiFi Innovation Service at WBA WiFi Industry Awards 2014. For more information, please visit fon.com.
About ADmira:
ADmira is a software company, incorporated in Barcelona in 2006 by the entrepreneur Mr. Carlos Silva. The company offers digital solutions for three areas: Digital Signage, Smart Cities and Internet of Things. ADmira operates in 32 countries managing plus than 32,000 screens and digital devices. Since the year of its incorporation and consecutively, up to 2015, it has been awarded with the most prestigious acknowledgements at international level, amongst which the Project Award de Smart City Expo, the Top 250 Disruptive Technologies d’USA and the D&AD de UK. ADmira has developed the first world solution comprising in the same tool Digital Signage, Radio / Video Analytics and Internet of Things.
About Intel:
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), is a leading company in hardware innovation. The company designs and manufactures essential technology used as base of computing and software devices. As leader of corporate responsibility and sustainability, Intel also manufactures the first micro data – processor “free of conflict” at a world scale.
About Veniam:
Veniam is a leading provider of solutions for connected vehicles and the Internet of Moving Things, with offices in Silicon Valley, Porto, Portugal, and Shanghai, China. Veniam built and operates the largest network of connected vehicles in the world, which provides free WiFi to 120,000 bus riders in Porto, Portugal.