Award-winning Moovbox technology delivers passenger Internet access on PolskiBus.com
Chatham, Kent (June 9th 2011) – Icomera AB, the world’s leading provider of cellular broadband gateways, has announced that PolskiBus.com, a new express inter-city coach service in Poland from Souter Investments, has deployed the Icomera M220 series on their vehicles to provide passenger WiFi and vehicle tracking.
PolskiBus.com will initially serve 16 cities in Poland and four other European capital cities through its international routes. The eight routes will serve Poland’s biggest cities as well as Berlin, Bratislava, Prague and Vienna from a hub in Warsaw. The State of the art coaches will offer passengers express intercity travel across Poland and Central Europe. Fares which start from just 1 zloty plus 1 zloty booking fee included a generous luggage allowance, with no hidden charges.
The 14.5 metre luxury PolskiBus.com coaches, which can carry 70 passengers each, are brand new and built to the very latest European standards. They are equipped with reclining leather seats, air-conditioning, free Wi-Fi, in-seat charging points for laptops and mobile phones and toilet facilities. In addition, the fleet will offer disabled access and feature some of the greenest engines in Europe with low carbon emission.
Roger Bowker, Chief Executive Officer of Souter Holdings Poland said: “We have seen in other countries, notably the USA, that the introduction of regular, high quality and low cost inter-city coach services can reinvigorate the inter-city public transport market as well as reduce pollution and congestion. I previously, alongside Brian Souter, introduced the Megabus.com business in North America, which has been phenomenally successful. In our view, Poland – with a population of over 38 million increasingly mobile people – is the perfect European market in which to launch a similar business.”
PolskiBus.com uses Icomera’s award-winning Moovbox M220 series Mobile Broadband Gateway to provide mobile Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity to passengers on its routes. The Icomera Gateway is configured to efficiently provide WiFi and tracking over the European countries served by PolskiBus.com.
The Moovbox M220 Series Mobile Broadband Gateway acts as a bridge between PolskiBus.com vehicles and the Internet using high-speed 7.2Mbps HSPA cellular broadband connections from multiple European Networks. This ensures that on-board Wi-Fi, at speeds up to several megabits per second, is delivered to the passenger. Icomera’s integrated MoovManage system enables PolskiBus.com to monitor and remote configure multiple Moovbox devices across its fleet, while keeping track of vehicles using in-built GPS functionality.
“Icomera has worked closely with Souter Investments and PolskiBus.com to ensure that we provide a ‘fit for purpose’ multi country solution” said Dave Palmer, VP and General Manager of the Road Division at Icomera. “Their commitment to deploy on-board Internet across these key European routes key routes sets a very high standard for other transport operators to follow. As well as providing passenger internet services, the technology can support remote vehicle monitoring and fleet-wide operational efficiency.”
Icomera is the world’s leading provider of cellular broadband gateways. Its Moovbox M220 Mobile Broadband Gateway acts as a bridge between a vehicle and high-speed networks including 3G/HSPA, EV-DO and WiMAX, providing Wi-Fi access and a local area network for connecting on-board systems such as CCTV and passenger information systems.
About Icomera
Icomera launched the world’s first high-speed Internet solution for trains in September 2002 and is today the world’s leading provider of open Internet connectivity and application platforms for passenger transport and public safety. Our award-winning products are deployed on rail, road and sea, serving more than 15 million Wi-Fi users in over 20 countries and providing high-speed access for fleet tracking and mission-critical on-board systems.
Transport solutions of the future will require more than connectivity – passengers need to be entertained, the vehicles need to be monitored and the staff need to be kept informed. Together with our application partners Icomera is already meeting these and other needs through the deployment of complete transportation communication solutions.
Established in 1999, Icomera is headquartered in Sweden with office in the United Kingdom and channel partners worldwide. For more information visit www.icomera.com.
About Souter Holdings Poland
Souter Holdings Poland is a new Polish public transport venture from Souter Investments.
About Souter Investments
Souter Investments is the private family investment office of Brian Souter, a Scottish transport entrepreneur. It makes investments and holds a wide ranging portfolio of assets consisting primarily of holdings in quoted markets, fund investments and unquoted private companies. Souter Investments’ unquoted portfolio spans companies involved in transport, luxury goods, support services, infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, biofuels, power generation and the environmental sector. These companies have a combined turnover approaching £1.3bn (approximately PLN 5.85 billion) and employ around 7,000 people worldwide.
