Virgin Railways (do not) Offer On-Board Wi-Fi
In yet another case of overstating the merits of a wireless solution, Virgin rail and their (partially owned) Wi-Fi partner Broadreach have announced Virgin will soon have “Wi-Fi on their trains”. This turns out to be a long stretch of the truth, making me suspect Broadreach CEO Magnus McEwan-King has kissed the blarney stone. What they will offer (not even now, but by year end) is WiFi hotspots in the train stations. Then Phase 2 will have aimed antennae so there is connectivity coming into and out of the station. Uhhh.. Magnus… that’s not WiFi on trains, that’s WiFi at stations. By that token, the BART I occasionally take into San Francisco can claim WiFi on the train, since it happens to pass within range of a T-Mobile hotspot – and I didn’t have to wait until later this year! If Virgin had called it WiFi in train stations, it would be praise-worthy. Instead it has earned today’s razzberry.
