Passengers will be able to connect their computers to the internet via UMTS USB modems, or via the new on-board Wi-Fi system, which ensures high quality continuous connections. The on-board WiFi system is also accessible to smart phones, netbooks and indeed any other WiFi-enabled device.

Telecom Italia is working with RFI, the infrastructure arm of the railways, to install next-generation mobile radio communications infrastructure along all 900 km of the high-speed rail track between Turin and Naples, and equipping all Frecciarossa-branded high-speed  trains with support technology systems (mobile radio communications repeater systems and WiFi cabling).

Worth remebering is that in Italy over 20% of the high-speed rail network (93% of the line between Bologna and Florence) runs through tunnels. Therefore, critical issues were associated with shielding electromagnetic waves in train carriages had to be properly addressed, in order to reliably support 3G/UMTS mobile radio network performance at the trains’ top speeds of 300 km/h .

Telecom Italia and Trenitalia, the operating company of the Italian State Railways,  will begin rolling out the system in April.

By the end of the summer, 30% of the high-speed train fleet will be operational; by the end of the year, all high-speed trains trains will be equipped with the new telecom equipment.

The infrastructure is also open to other radio mobile operators who wish to take part in this venture.

The extensive network of transmitters and the mobile radio communications repeater system will strengthen signals on trains and resolve reception problems along the line also for standard mobile voice calls, especially where trains go through tunnels.

Frecciarossa trains will also be equipped with an on-board server (half of the fleet by the end of the year, and the remainder by summer 2011) so that passengers can access a train portal.

The portal will make it possible to create an “on-train community”, and offer users online access to news items from major newspapers, TV programmes, on-demand films, music and videos, weather, traffic information, games, mobile ticketing, taxi reservations, car hire and other value-added services.

The field trial will also focus on the usage of small cell solutions (such as pico cells) to address “hot spot” and indoor coverage applications, and their related throughput and latency performance.

In parallel, Telecom Italia’s TI Lab and Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs will investigate even more specific and advanced LTE-related topics, through simulations and analysis.

Architectural analyses will be conducted, and unique proof of concepts will be realized.

In country where handset subsidies have been traditionally very low, the retail price of € 22,90 for the new PM1001 GSM handset to be sold by Poste Italiane through its nationwide post offices could still appeal to a lot of people.

They aim to develop each of the partners’ positions in the growing market for M2M solutions, internationally.

The agreement covers the areas of product development – including the simplification and standardisation of products – sales and marketing.

The companies plan to identify relevant target markets in the telematics, fleet management, navigation, smart metering (remote metering), vending machine and security segments.

Telit will supply Magneti Marelli the M2M wireless connectivity modules included in the ‘telematics boxes’ developed by Magneti Marelli.

Thanks to their integrated connectivity modules, this telematics boxes will allow a wide range of info-mobility services to be accessed from the vehicle: pay-per-use telematics insurance services, anti-robbery tracking and vehicle localization in case of theft, remote diagnostics for vehicle operation, company fleet management, emergency call (also known as E-call), information services on traffic and road conditions, information on access limits and bans, as well as in-vehicle multimedia entertainment services.

The two companies aim to adress the lucrative Brazilian market, where six million units are planned to be delivered in 2010, driven by a mandate to track all cars, trucks and mobile goods in case of theft or other criminal acts.

The box has an attractive ‘cube‘ design and it is being sold at a retail price of €199.The box has been co-designed by Telecom Italia and it includes severeal interesting features:

1. DVT-T based terrestrial TV reception. Italy is currently migrating to analog TV broadcasts to digital TV.  In some part of the country analog TV has already been switched off. The transition will be completed nation-wide by 2012.
2. Internet gateway.  The box connects to Internet through either the integrated Ethernet or ir WI-FI interfaces.
3. Storage. 500 Mbyte for storing multimedia contente
4. Smart features. The box can be fully personalized by the user, for instance overimposing  several ‘widgets‘ to display any Internet content like latest news, YouTube videos and so on.

A quick summary of the technical specifications  of  CuboVision are available in (easy to read) Italian.