Rajant Corporation, the pioneer of Kinetic Mesh wireless networks and global distribution partner AIRadio, has solved the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s (IMM)’s Metro M8 line connectivity challenge, making reliable Wi-Fi available to all commuters. istanbul metro wifi

Using Rajant Kinetic Mesh wireless radio nodes, known as Hawk BreadCrumbs®, all M8 passengers can access 300Mbps of uninterrupted internet while traveling at high speeds underground. IMM debuted the Rajant-enabled Wi-Fi commuter service on August 17, 2023, the 24th anniversary of the August 17, 1999, earthquake.

Istanbul Metro’s Wi-Fi Network Enhances Daily Communication and Emergency Response istanbul metro wifi

IMM is pointing out that the internet infrastructure put in place by AIRadio within the Metro cars and terminal is of great importance for day-to-day communication needs as well as emergencies. According to Erol Ozguner, CIO at IMM, “Thanks to the infrastructural investments we have made, 2.5 million passengers traveling by metro will enjoy the internet as they can use it more efficiently.” Nihat Narin, the President of ISTTELKOM, Subsidiary of IMM, stressed the desire to make the commuter travel experience more contemporary and comfortable by further expanding the free IMM Wi-Fi service on the metros. Noted Mr Narin, “We are working non-stop with a view to encouraging the people of Istanbul to prefer the rail systems more often, as we further improve the technological infrastructure of the city.” 

AIRadio VP Sales and Business Development Koral Turkkan shared, “Deploying a dedicated LTE or even a 5G network was not an option due to challenges such as CAPEX and OPEX costs. Further, neither LTE or 5G provide seamless handoffs to maintain user-application connections, whether for entertainment like Netflix or live-streamed Google Meet. As a distributor of Rajant, we know Kinetic Mesh is a truly disruptive technology that has delivered several very large project wins for AIRadio, so we brought this high-bandwidth wireless solution to IMM’s attention. Now, the M8 metro line’s 40,000+ daily passengers have the convenience and peace-of-mind access to the internet as they rapidly travel underground. A first-ever real-time video conference between Turkey, Kazakhstan, and South Africa was captured using Google Meet.”

Rajant Sales Director in Eastern Europe/Central Asia Marcin Kusztal concluded, “Rajant Kinetic Mesh BreadCrumb wireless nodes have seen extensive deployments supporting high-mobility applications for underground and tunnel environments. In the case of the Istanbul Metro, AIRadio installed Hawk BreadCrumbs in combination with Rajant RCP tunnel antennas and SlipStream XG for both trackside and on-train deployment, which exceeded the required average throughput per customer, per train.”