SBB’s fleet gets data roaming services installed

BICS, a global wholesale carrier for voice, mobile data and capacity services and Swisscom, the largest mobile operator in Switzerland, have implemented data roaming services on SBB’s fleet of trains. This will enable the Swiss national railway operator’s staff to stay seamlessly connected to its service-critical enterprise applications even crossing international borders.    

Following the deployment of BICS’ Instant Roaming service, train drivers and other members of staff are able to access the complete range of call, messaging and data services wherever the train is on the network. 

The agreement takes advantage of BICS’ wide-reaching communications network infrastructure and relations with local operators to enable seamless mobile communications as train services leave Switzerland and move across borders.

“The international reach of our train operations meant providing seamless and reliable mobile connectivity for staff was problematic,” said Fritz Schranz, Product Manager SBB. “However, in order to support the new range of service-enhancing enterprise apps we needed to find a robust roaming solution which would enable us to improve connectivity between on-board staff abroad and control centres, ultimately improving our punctuality and customer services standards.”

Sophie Greffier, Vice President Europe and North Africa, BICS added: “This deployment is a landmark for BICS in providing connectivity for an increasingly diverse customer-base. Enterprises in specific sectors today are starting to demand the same standards of high-quality cross-border data roaming services as MNOs to run critical services for their employees. This deployment, completed in a challenging time-scale, shows BICS and its partners are in an excellent position to fulfil these needs.”

Tommy Bertling, Senior Roaming Manager, Swisscom AG, said: “SBB is a long-term strategic partner for Swisscom and, as such, the success of this very ambitious and complex project was of vital importance. Providing the complete package of communications services to our enterprise customers is of vital importance, whether that is inside the country or when they are moving onto partner networks abroad.”