Plans expand for Chinese transit Wi-Fi network

Digital advertising network VisionChina Media Inc. announced a partnership with infrastructure vendor Huawei to explore a national mass transit Wi-Fi network in China, expanding the company’s efforts to position itself as a leader in wireless connectivity and big data-supported advertising on transit systems there.
The initial agreement covers research and development of a transit-centered Wi-Fi network, and Huawei was also selected as VisionChina Media’s official supplier for the planned network, to provide Wi-Fi infrastructure including its Agile Network solution. VisionChina previously announced a partnership with China Unicom a few months ago that also focused on establishing the national Wi-Fi network for transit.
VisionChina Media said that its out-of-home advertising network on mass transit systems in China covers more than 370 million urban commuters; the company noted that a growing majority of those users are also mobile Internet users. It said that it “intends for its network to serve as the first mobile Internet entry point in China’s public transit system and anticipates providing free Internet connections using 3G/LTE technology along with value added services including news, video, location-based services, third party app store access, and more.”
VisionChina has more than 100,000 television displays on mass transit systems in 19 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzen, according to the company. It uses those displays to broadcast locally relevant content, and intends to capitalize on its positioning in the market by providing wireless access that combines connectivity for commuters while offering advertisers access to those users as well as big data analytics in support of well-targeted marketing, according to Limin Li, who is VisionChina Media’s chairman and CEO.
“We believe the establishment of a national Wi-Fi network across China’s mass transportation systems will deliver unique value to urban commuters and national and multinational advertisers alike,” he added.
Shaowei Liu, president of the network product lin for Huawei’s enterprise business group, said that the company was “impressed” by VisionChina Media’s footprint and “[shared] the same vision with VisionChina Media regarding public transit Wi-Fi and believe Huawei’s Agile Network Solution can help the Company to maintain its leading position in public transit Wi-Fi technology.”
Image from VisionChina Media