Buenos Aires tube gets free Wi-Fi

WI-FI ZONE signs quietly started appearing on subway stations, and news finally surfaced confirming that "free-for-all" Wi-Fi access has been installed in the Buenos Aires city subway metro tube.

Metrovias, the private company which operates all lines of metro service in Argentina's biggest city, is part of the local Roggio business group which has interests in construction and telecommunications, the latter done by its sister company Metrotel -whose main asset is incidentally a fibre network laid along the tube's path. The tube company hence predictably partnered with its sister data and voice carrier firm Metrotel for its connectivity, and with Cisco Systems -which provides the Wi-Fi kit used underground for this venture.

Wow, I can check the INQ while on the move

The Buenos Aires underground wannabe currently has 69 stations spread on five lines, with a length of 24.5 miles, and moves an average of over twenty million people per month. This latest "goodwill" move by the firm really comes down to both Public Relations and self-interest, as with this Wi-Fi network in operation, they can also begin to sell premium services to the small underground shops which can be found on some of the biggest underground stations, as well as using the network internally for their own business purposes. The company's marketing spinner also said installing IP cameras for added security is part of the plan. Surely it will help identify the thieves more reliably, if indeed careless people start turning on laptops in the stations and they get predictably robbed.

Local paper Infobae listed the equipment installed as "240 Cisco APs, managed with three 4404 Wireless LAN controllers, which are in turn managed using Cisco's " Wireless Control System" (WCS) software.

Wi-Fi stickers

The Cisco APs used are not the average cheap home hotspot, selling for $394 a piece and sporting dual band, triple-mode operation (802.11a/b/g) and an integrated sector antenna. The firm said centralised management was also one of the key features why they went with Cisco.

The service is operational as I write this, and this Royal Correspondent has taken his PalmOS PDA -Sony Clie NX80V with Intel compact flash Wi-Fi card-, Gateway 7422 notebook -the latter at the risk of its/his safety-, and finally a Nokia N800 into the Tube to test it. It works, at least on a few stations of the B line where I tested it. The company plans to do the formal announcement sometime in April, when it completes installation of all hotspots on the "A" line, according to local media reports. That line was the first subway in South America, where one can still see some of the original antique subway cars with wood-framed interiors, which were left in operation only due to its historical and "tourists-magnet" value.

Not all roses
Not everything is rosy: the Buenos Aires tube is still unbelievably hot in the summer -despite a new forced ventilation system that was supposedly put in place not too long ago but which I never noticed-. And in some lines and at rush hour you better watch for pickpockets, yet I admit that this seems to be an almost-universal problem. I personally do not recommend anyone uses an expensive notebook on a tube ride. Carrying it concealed into a handbag or backpack is another matter. PDAs and mobiles are OK and I have seen lots of people use them.

APs present on the tube station. One is locked for the operator's internal use

This move brings good vibes to all the companies involved: Metrovias due to the PR boost, Metrotel since it allows the firm to begin promoting its paid IP telephony and connectivity services to the underground mini-store operators operating within some stations, and Cisco due to the use of the company's kit. Yet, I really would like to see the company putting the same effort in fixing water leaks springing from the walls of station stairways, or installing a better cooling system for the hot Buenos Aires summers. Don't get me wrong: I appreciate being able to check my e-mail from the tube. Yet, last year, subway operator Metrovias was fined over $120,000 greenbacks by the City's regulation authority due to an assorted list of anomalies, according to press reports.

As soon as you go back to street level, the signal is strangely gone
Directional antennas to avoid Wi-Fi theft by neighbours, perhaps?

Metrotel can be sometimes a secretive and kinda strange company that likes to flight below the radar -not surprising being an underground operator. Back in January, I contacted a manager at the firm and asked politely if they would like to appear in an interview or perhaps let me do an article about the firm's services, but this exec -commercial manager, for the record- told me it was "not the company's interest" to appear in a news story. Go figure.

Facts and figures
Argentina was the first country in Latin America to have a tube, with the first station of line A inaugurated on December 1, 1913, when the tube system was kick-started by the Anglo-Argentine Tramway Company. Some publications claim it was the first tube in the Southern Hemisphere, and the entire Spanish-speaking world, although I wasn't present at the time to confirm or deny it, so you better believe the Wackypedia.

The system currently has five lines named with letters from A to D -another one dubbed line H is currently under construction, which will go from North to South and connect to all other lines. The Buenos Aires subway is a quite a fast and safe way to move around. Just don't think you're at home and use a $2000 laptop in public view, because in that case I cannot give you any warranty on your safety. The Buenos Aires tube carried more than 250 million passengers last year, according to company's figures.µ

L'INQs:
YouTube: Argentina, Tube and Tango
YouTube: a passenger's view of line "B"
YouTube: Driver's view - A-Line
Buenos Aires tube map
Buenos Aires Metro @ Wikipedia
Buenos Aires transportation tips
Buenos Aires in 3D with Street Maps for Google Earth
Eat, Drink, Sleep Buenos Aires
Metrotel
Evolution of Subway usage per line (chart)

See also:
Argentina ends 2006 with record-breaking e-figures
Alvarion grabs WiMAX market in South America
Mexican Billonaire grabs WiMAX operation in Argentina
INQ's Visual Guide to Expocomm 2006