From now on, the passengers who pass along the platforms and mezzanine floors of Duomo M1 and M3 station, will be able to rely on a free Wi-Fi connection. From March, the service will be extended to San Babila (M1) station and from April to Cadorna (M1-M2).
This is possible owing to an initial joint trial between ATM and Fastweb, the aim of which is to improve the user experience of Milanese passengers, offering unlimited ultra-broadband Internet use for four hours a day and information on the status of the Local Public Transport network.
This morning, at ATM Point 2 at Duomo station, the service launch conference was held. Attending were: Arrigo Giana, ATM General Manager, Sergio Scalpelli, Head of External and Corporate Relations at Fastweb, Roberto Andreoli, Head of IT Systems at ATM and Andrea Lazzaroli, Head of Finance & Analysis, at Fastweb.
"As of today, Duomo station will be covered by free Wi-Fi and the project is entirely free of charge for ATM, thanks to the synergy with Fastweb. The use of the new technologies to improve the public transport service is undoubtedly one of the company's drivers. Over recent months, ATM has announced a two-million-euro investment plan, the part of which allocated to technology is a major one, and Wi-Fi in the metro stations is only a small but important detail. These are very ambitious projects because we are talking about 360° technology, which goes from electric buses, electronic ticketing and paperless tickets, to give just a few examples. Our aim is to be at the cutting edge of progress on all fronts in the public transport field and in customer service", stated Arrigo Giana, ATM General Manager.
"What binds Fastweb to the city of Milan is a long history of innovation that began in 2000 and has led us to create a widespread ultra-fast fibre optic network that now covers the whole city", commented Sergio Scalpelli, Head of External and Corporate Relations at Fastweb. "With the free Wi-Fi project at Duomo station and coming soon at Cadorna and San Babila, which we are implementing with ATM, we are offering citizens a high-performance service, for connection quality and security on the move, in order to improve urban liveability and create new opportunities in this extraordinary city, of which we are particularly fond".
The wireless coverage of the stations is extremely extensive (at Duomo station alone, 40 Access Points have been installed, each of which allows the simultaneous connection of up to 256 users) in order to guarantee the high quality of the service offered: once registered, passengers may use the Internet with no bandwidth limits for the first four hours, with a connection speed that can exceed 500 Megabits per second, after which they may continue at 200 kB/s in uplink and 200 KB/s in downlink for the rest of the day.
HOW TO REGISTER – Once inside the station, all you have to do is have the Wi-Fi network activated on your smartphone to see the Welcome page appear and proceed with registration, which will only be necessary for your first access. You can register through the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Google+), or simply by entering your identification information, such as a mobile phone number or e-mail address. Once you have received the password, and logged in, you can access the service freely.
Furthermore, on the welcome page, you will have information available on the status of the metro lines service, infomobility information in real time and you will be able to download the map of the entire metro network. The welcome page will be integrated with further information services on the status of the public transport in real time.
THE NETWORK – Thanks to the collaboration of Fastweb, Duomo M1 and M3 station has been cabled and reached with optical fibre with 4-Gigabit-per-second connections. Fastweb also provides the Wi-Fi coverage by means of hotspots installed and integrated with its own fibre-optic landline network. Lastly, through the Cloud platform, the company provides the portal for access to the service. The configuration of the network created also allows Fastweb to further extend the coverage of WOW FI, the shared wi-fi network, with which the customer community can use the Internet free of charge on the move, automatically accessing it with their devices, without consuming the Gigas of their own subscriptions.
FUTURE STEPS OF ATM – Following this initial trial phase, ATM intends to extend the wireless network to all 113 stations and throughout the route of the metro. A trial will also be launched for the above-ground transport network in order to test the quality of the differing wireless coverage. This initial phase with Fastweb is only the first element in a wider project that will involve all the operators and aim to provide customers with increasingly innovative services, as part of the development of new telecommunications technologies like 5G and the Internet of Things.