Six metro stops get WiFi

Six metro stations now have free WiFi so passengers can surf the internet while they wait and also receive transit updates. The stations are Hlavní nádraží, Pražského povstání, Náměstí Republiky, Smíchovské nádraží, Florenc B and Florenc C. The program should cost some Kč 10 million, excluding tax. The technology for this project will be supplied by ČD-Telematik. The Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) announced the project in September.

The project will be in pilot operation so that the DPP can evaluate it and decide whether to extend the service to other stations.

The transfer rate is 300 Mbit per second. Some 75 transmitters are in the stations, and the contractor had to build all the infrastructure.

“Passengers who connect to this Wi-Fi network will get online traffic information on Prague's public transport to their smart devices. In the event of emergencies, it will allow the DPP to immediately inform passengers and pass on information about substitute connections or safety instructions,” DPP general director Martin Gillar said, according to press reports.

ČD Telematika board chairman Miroslav Řezníček said the system was built to the latest standards, and that passengers would have quick access to the network.

The coverage is only at the stations so far but in the future could be extended to the tunnels as well. Currently, WiFi is only in tunnels at the new section of the A line from Dejvická to Nemocnice Motol. The same section also has mobile coverage.

Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) said mobile coverage could also be in the rest of the metro tunnels in the future. A pilot project should start on route C, but it is not clear when. DPP's Gillar declined to give further details.

Expanding WiFi coverage is part of a long-term city project. DPP has introduced Wi-Fi in new Škoda 15T ForCity trams and some other trams as it modernizes the fleet. By 2022 DPP hopes to have 60 to 70 percent of the fleet covered.

In June a privately funded project began to put WiFi into tram stops. Advertising firm JCDecaux announced at the time there would be WiFi at 300 tram stops by the end of the year.

Smart benches, which are solar powered, also provide WiFi connections and can be used by the public to recharge phones. If the pilot project is successful, smarter benches will be installed across the city.

Prague Zoo now has WiFi at seven locations.

Prague 11, which encompasses the Jižní Město housing project, also has the initiative to provide free public WiFi.