May/June 2004

More reports are coming through of public Wi-Fi Internet access being provided in unlikely settings. One of the latest demonstrations to arouse interest is one in a bus used to transport people from Paris's Gare du Nord to the Public Transport Exhibition 2004.

As often with projects of this type, this one attempts to link several different technologies together. Alongside simple wireless Internet access, it aims to present travellers with information relating to the local area, district or the town, as well as information relating to the transport network traffic (for instance, train and bus departure times).

Appear Networks is behind the location-based software in this project, and Cisco has provided the based wireless infrastructure. A wider pilot of the system is being rolled out on all RATP buses on route 38, which crosses Paris from north to south.