In the Media
Wi-fi company predicting revenues of €1 million
Sunday Business Post 12 April 2009
Dublin-based mobile wi-fi provider Fleet Connect said that it was on track to record revenues of approximately €1 million this year, after winning a number of significant deals with private bus operators.
The company, now one year in operation, has signed up a number of major coach operators in recent months, including Dublin-based Aircoach, Go Bus in Galway, Matthews Coaches in Monaghan, McGinley's of Donegal and Derry-based Airporter.
The deals follow on from the company's initial big contract with JJ Kavanagh. Patrick Cotter, managing director of Fleet Connect, said that the company was pursuing a rental business model, whereby bus operators rented the company's wi-fi-enabled equipment, dubbed Moovbox. For Fleet Connect, it guarantees recurring revenues for the company, in addition to an initial installation fee, while bus operators have no significant, upfront capital costs.
Cotter said that the company would now focus on continuing to grow its market position in Ireland while expanding into Britain. The company is currently making a push into the North, and has already begun selling systems in Scotland. Cotter said that the company was targeting revenues of €2 million in 2010.
Moovbox works by utilising 3G broadband services, with internet access relayed to bus passengers via wi-fi. Passengers who access the web on a bus with a laptop, handheld device or phone are greeted with a branded welcome screen and are asked to fill in a brief questionnaire.
Cotter said that this provided instant feedback for the operator and FleetConnect, with many customers saying that it allowed them to utilise commuting time to catch up on work and allow them to leave earlier in the evenings.
The system has a number of additional features, such as an optional, built-in GPS unit, which allows bus operators to track their vehicles while out on the road. It can also connect to on-board CCTV cameras, allowing live pictures to be relayed back to base and allow for faster response times to incidents.
This facility was one feature that could also be used on static sites, a market that Cotter is also planning to begin targeting.