WiFiontheMove has experienced a significant surge in several key markets since the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns. One such area is the long-haul segment, facilitated by the 60-seater luxury coach manufacturer Irizar.
Its busiest market is the cross-border route from South Africa to Zimbabwe. WiFiontheMove now manages four operators on this route: Swiss Express, Mzansi Express, and latterly, Imperial Lane and Nitol Transport, operating from Johannesburg to Bulawayo and Harare.
For the majority of the African diaspora living and working in South Africa, the only affordable long-distance mode of transport is the coach, and offering onboard WiFi connectivity on the move has gone from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have,’ placing additional pressures on transport providers, as well as the opportunity to differentiate between operators.
To ensure the coaches stay online, WiFiontheMove constantly monitors the router, coach location, passenger WiFi connectivity and manages the Vodacom mobile data within South Africa. The need has now arisen to start offering WiFiontheMove on both sides of the border on the same trip.
At the heart of the WiFiontheMove solution for Southern Africa’s coaches are the Teltonika Industrial RUT956 Cellular Router and the Poynting PUCK-5 high-gain 2×2 Mimo WiFi & LTE & GPS antenna – proudly provided by Inteto Connect. The router is ignition controlled and mounted discreetly in a secure compartment by the driver to avoid tampering and theft. Installation by qualified Irizar engineers takes around 30 minutes, which is important given coach operators are running on the clock.
Likewise, the ruggedized PUCK-5 antenna low-profile design delivers a stable, high-throughput LTE signal from Vodacom towers along the main motorways across South Africa. Network dropouts do occur, however, so the plan is to ‘heat map’ the main routes and supplement the primary Vodacom SIM to failover to a second MTN SIM. Network availability rather than speed is a more important consideration than speed for WiFiontheMove. That said, the 4G Teltonika router delivers download speeds of 30+Mbps and supports up to 100 concurrent users.
On a busy 60-seater coach, peak passenger usage is well over 50% so there has to be a tradeoff between speed, data consumption and the cost. WiFiontheMove caps the free daily data per passenger allowance at around 250-300MB. This is subsidized by the coach operator that pays WiFiontheMove a fixed fee for guaranteeing this minimum data rate. In quieter months, or for charters and corporate clients, the data cap can be set much higher or even taken off completely. The model is flexible.
The first customer to go live with cross border WiFi on the same trip is the United Bus Company of Zambia (UBZ). They are the market leader in luxury long haul travel in Zambia, with a fleet of over 20 Irizar coaches.
In December UBZ opened a new depot and passenger ticket office and waiting lounge in Johannesburg. WiFiontheMove has now configured the Teltonika routers on this new cross-country route to ‘SIM switch’ between Vodacom SA and MTN Zambia. The parameters are set to ‘no network’ and ‘roaming’ in order to dynamically affect the network interoperability.
“For passengers travelling across borders on our buses, the WiFi ensures a fast, reliable and uninterrupted connection, making their journey more enjoyable and productive. Whether it’s working remotely, streaming content, or staying in touch with loved ones, the service delivers top notch performance,” notes Managing Director of UBZ Southern Africa, Cassytha Lawrence. “The WiFi allows us to track our buses in real time, helping us monitor routes, manage schedules, and ensure a smooth, efficient service. This technology also streamlines the checkout process at our depots, improving both efficiency and customer experience.”
“Providing coach operators with a cloud-managed WiFi solution that integrates industry leading hardware, software, and mobile data connectivity has set a new standard for long-haul passenger road connectivity,” said Justin Farnell, CEO of WiFiontheMove. “WiFi is no longer seen as an optional extra by coach operators, but rather as a core component of their passenger service offering.”
