Spring 2006

Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the National Dutch Rail Authority, claims to have rolled out the biggest mobile computing implementation so far to use Wi-Fi networking in what it calls "a front-line application".

Ten thousand of its staff have been issued with handheld devices running the Windows Mobile operating system, and are now connecting to "end-to-end networks" by Wi-Fi. The system has been set up by Appear Networks.

The operation demonstrates that whereas most businesses with extensive geographical networks have so far tended to opt for GPRS phone-based networks for mobile computing, Wi-Fi can offer a convincing alternative.

The railway has set up Cisco Wi-Fi networks at fifty of its stations, allowing staff to log on whenever they are in range of one of them. The organisation says people such as train conductors and drivers, customer service representatives and other staff can now access business-critical data wirelessly while working on the platform.