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 Unico/Unica service announced long ago by Telecom Italia (based on UMA technology) and the Vodafone Casa (home zone) service announced by Vodafone (based on GSM cell id) should finally be available soon to consumers.

The Pirelli “dual-mode” phone is an innovative handset which enables the convergence of fixed and mobile services, integrating cell phone technology with the advantages of phone calls over the Internet. The new Pirelli phone, based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), can alternatively function as a telephone handset in WiFi mode or as a mobile phone.
Using the “dual-mode” phone, users will be able to make regular mobile phone calls using a SIM card or call via the internet with a DSL subscription. This solution enables the use of mobile features such as SMS, MMS, e-mail and Internet also through a fixed-broadband connection.

The new service will be available to pre-paid only (a small minority in Italy) TIM’s mobile customers that also subscribe (or are willing to subscribe) to Telecom Italia fixed VoIP offer and Wi-Fi option, branded “Alice Mia Wi-Fi”.
For an extra fee of 15€ per month (plus 5€/month for each additional handset), Unica’s subscribers can use a dual-mode Wi-Fi/GSM UMA-based handset to call at discounted rates both indoor and outdoor.
The tariff structure is quite complicated with so many options and limits that will certainly please potential customers with a master degree both in law and math.
A starter pack is available at 369€, which include a Samsung SGH P200 UMA-handset and an ADSL2+ Wi-Fi router.

FON is the company behind the ‘foneros’ community. It allows free access to Wi-Fi hotspots all over the world among members of the community that choose to share their own fixed broadband connections through a Wi-Fi-enabled router.
Elitel will pre-install the FON software in the Wi-Fi CPE devices (modems and routers) that it sells to its customers.
Although the compliance to Italian laws of Wi-Fi public access is still uncertain, the foneros community quickly grew and it now has more than 3.000 active hot-spots listed.