CIÉ looks to profit from passengers’ internet use

Bus and rail passengers could soon be offered ‘in-flight’ entertainment as CIÉ looks to ways of making money from internet users on board its services.

The company has invested heavily to provide wifi on all Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus services and is now engaging consultants to see how aspects of it could be commercialised.

Spokesman Barry Kenny said there were no plans to charge for basic internet sessions.

“We’ll be maintaining free wifi because it’s something that customers want and appreciate and use.

“It’s one of our selling points now and it’s expected. When you go to a hotel you expect the wifi to be free and when you’re charged for it, you’re annoyed.

“But we are examining the potential for a revenue stream from it.”

Some options it will be considering is selling sponsorship rights or advertising space that would give advertisers access to a massive market that generated 199m passenger journeys across all three services last year.

There were an estimated 26m wifi sessions on passenger smart phones and tablets on those journeys but that number is expected to grow and creates an attractive captive audience.

However, it is expected the consultants will also produce options for paid access to ‘stored content’ which means films, TV shows and music.

Sites like Youtube and other live streaming services are blocked on the wifi in trains and buses because it would not have the capacity to cope with multiple users simultaneously but content pre-stored by CIÉ could potentially be accessed.

Passengers would still be able to view for free material previously downloaded onto their own device but it is understood CIÉ would like to make their paid-for offering attractive by including recent cinema releases.