June/July 2003

Paris could become home to one of the world's first city-wide Wi-Fi hotspot networks. These are the networks that give mobile computer users wireless Internet access at speeds akin to fixed broadband.

The development results from an initiative by the metro railway operator, RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens). The aim is to allow both street-level and underground commuters to log on to the network whilst travelling. Potentially, other field workers with mobile computers could eventually tap into the same system almost anywhere in the capital.

Paris is said to have one of the densest metro systems in the world, comprising 400 stations with an average distance of just 550 metres between each one. This means that in effect, it could be possible to use the system as a base for an interconnected Wi-Fi network.

The WIXOS project is supported by a Cisco Metro Ethernet switching architecture, which runs over part of the 40,000 kilometres of optic fibre cabling controlled by Telcité, an RATP telecommunications subsidiary. Data management is being handled by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young France.

 

In the current year-long pilot, the system will be installed in a dozen locations above ground along the bus route 38. Two Cisco Aironet 1200 Wi-Fi access points will be installed at each station, linked by a Gigabit Ethernet loop.

Bouygues Telecom, T-Online's Club Internet, TELE2, TLC Mobile and WI-FI Spot are said to have committed to participating on the platform. Significantly, there are already moves afoot among French mobile network operators to offer users reciprocal use of their Wi-Fi systems - lack of which is considered a drawback of the whole hotspot concept. Bouygues is among those behind a proposed body for overseeing standards; others include Vodafone and France Telecom.