Tokyo subways to offer Internet access on trains

Tokyo, May 19: Tokyo subways will start offering a new wireless communication service from March 2012, enabling their passengers to exchange text messages and access the Internet in moving trains, the two subway operators in the metropolitan area has said.

The Tokyo metropolitan government and Tokyo Metro Co., a private subway network operator, will cooperate with a broadband service firm, UQ Communications Inc., to install necessary facilities in their entire subway network.

UQ Communications will foot the bill for the installation of the communication system based on the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access technology, known as WiMAX.

Currently, only cellphone networks are accessible for subway users at stations.

Earlier this year, the Tokyo government and Softbank Corp. agreed to provide access to cellphone networks in subway trains by the end of December.

Kyodo