In September 2013 Gares & Connexions (SNCF) chose NOMOSPHERE associated with Wi-Fi Metropolis to supply free Wi-Fi in train stations. By the end of March 2014 the Lille-Flandres and Avignon TGV stations will be the first two stations offering Wi-Fi connection.
And by the end of June 2014, the railroad passengers will be able to connect to wireless Internet in forty stations around Paris and in the rest of the country.
« When we launched the call for proposals for free Wi-Fi, we wanted to offer very quickly a free wireless internet access in a large number of stations, stated Rachel Picard, executive director of Gares & Connexions (SNCF). We first announced we will do it in 100 stations, but in the end we will be able to provide a free Wi-Fi connection in 128 stations. We want to spread this Wi-Fi network everywhere very quickly. In Europe, we are the first ones who offer a free and unlimited Wi-Fi access to our passengers. You can be sure that we will keep on developing it after these 128 stations! ».
We answered this call and offered our Hotspot Wi-Fi solution which provides a powerful and reliable network to the users in the French stations. The NOMOSPHERE Team has the skills required to set up a wireless network in these complex sites and to ensure a speed of deployment. Thanks to our partnership with Wi-Fi Metropolis, we were able to offer them a money-saving and innovating system including online video commercials and thus providing a free access to Wi-Fi ”, added Philippe LeGrand, Vice-president of NOMOSPHERE.
So, how does it work? Online advertising drives the economic model: free and unlimited Wi-Fi access after viewing a short video commercial. The Public Wi-Fi is available to every person present in the stations, who wants to use the wireless network. The same Logging Portal is used in all the stations and one only needs to create a user account to reach the service or to download the application Wi-Fi Metropolis. And then, people will be easily and automatically connected to the wireless network in the 128 stations.
The network covers all the public areas, waiting areas, the station platforms and the Cross-Channel areas in Paris-Nord and Lille-Europe. NOMOSPHERE will be in charge of the infrastructure and the networks’ daily management using SFR national data collection network. Wi-Fi Metropolis will be in charge of the Logging Portal management and the advertising, guaranteeing a free Wi-Fi access for the user. By the end of March 2014Lille-Flandres and Avignon TGV will be the first Wi-Fi enabled stations. Then priority will be given to the biggest stations in Paris and in the rest of the country: by the end of June 2014, around forty stations will be Wi-Fi enabled. In the end, there will be 100 Wi-Fi enabled stations before the end of 2014, and 128 other ones by the end of February 2015. After this first network deployment, free Wi-Fi will be available in many other stations.