LONDON, UK, 11th August 2017 – BAI Communications, a global transport communication infrastructure specialist, has welcomed the Mayor of London’s pledge to work with industry to address the city’s not-spots, and to bring connectivity to the London Underground.
The company also welcomed the Mayor’s undertaking to engage with industry about how best to take advantage of underground and street-level assets to improve connectivity across the capital, while also generating commercial returns.
Billy D’Arcy, UK CEO of BAI Communications, said: “Boosting the city’s connectivity will inevitably deliver significant benefits to people who live and work in London, businesses, and the millions of visitors who pass through each year.
“It will provide enhanced productivity, increased digital inclusion, and help keep people digitally connected to friends and loved ones. It will also ensure that London keeps pace with other major global cities competing for inward investment.”
Through BAI’s majority-owned subsidiary, Transit Wireless, BAI brought cellular and Wi-Fi coverage to the stations of the New York subway a year ahead of schedule. BAI’s international experience also includes providing communications networks on the Hong Kong and Toronto underground systems.
About BAI Communications
BAI Communications (BAI) is a global, independent, infrastructure owner and operator. BAI funds, designs, builds and operates high-quality, robust, communications networks including cellular, Wi-Fi, fibre optic network, television and radio broadcasting.
BAI have operations in Europe, North America, and Australia, acting as partners to government and transport authorities and investing expertise and capital to provide Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity for passengers, public safety, and operations.
BAI Communications has entered into long-term partnerships with transport authorities similar to Transport for London to provide high-speed connectivity on underground rail networks, helping to deliver a vastly improved passenger experience.
BAI Communications and its global network of companies – Transit Wireless (majority owned), BAI Canada, RFE and Broadcast Australia – have delivered major projects including:
- BAI Communications majority owned company, Transit Wireless, has designed, built and currently operates New York City’s 279 underground subway stations, with wideband cellular and Wi-Fi for the city’s 1.7 billion annual passengers.
- BAI Canada has designed, built and currently operates Toronto’s existing 69 subway stations (56 underground) with a wideband cellular and Wi-Fi network for the city’s 293 million annual passengers.
- RFE has partnered with Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR) since 1997 to provide cellular and public safety services in the subway, which supports multi-band and multicarrier services (2G, 3G, 4G/LTE and Tetra) to 86 stations and connecting tunnels to 1.6 billion passengers annually.
- In 2017 BAI acquired inMOTION Wireless, together with a long-term licence to build and operate the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) public Wi-Fi network for passengers. The network includes trackside towers, as well as a fibre network to facilitate wireless broadband links to trains and stations, and is currently being built.
- Through Broadcast Australia we have more than 90 years of expertise in providing communications networks for television and radio broadcast covering 99% of the Australian population.
- The company also has decades of experience operating a nationwide broadcast infrastructure platform throughout Australia, which carries emergency services communications, in addition to other RF broadcast services.
BAI Communications’ main UK priority is the delivery of advanced wireless services to large-scale transport networks, improving cost and operational outcomes for the operators and ensuring that the UK maintains world class communications infrastructure. This enhances the overall travel experience for passengers, by delivering excellent mobile network connections, high-speed data and Wi-Fi, all of which are now essential for modern travel.
BAI Communications is majority owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world’s largest institutional investors, which has long-standing and significant infrastructure investments in the United Kingdom.
