I have just been reading this article from the Irish Times, reporting that a Coach Company (Butlers Buses) now offers Internet access via Bluetooth to all its passengers.

This means they will be able to access the Internet on their mobile phones, for free, which is pretty interesting news, I hope you will agree! This prospect is opening up the market for even more Web-based mobile services, a trend that as time passes I see growing.

I have copy-pasted the whole article below:

Other coach firms, including JJ Kavanaghs, Aircoach, Go Bus and
Matthews Coaches, already offer internet access using WiFi technology,
which effectively restricts the service to laptop users.

Butlers
Buses chose Bluetooth short-range wireless technology to be able to
offer access to passengers with mobile phones in addition to offering
WiFi. Both options are available at no cost.

Ian Butler,
managing director of Butlers Buses, said younger passengers or tourists
would be more likely to avail of the Bluetooth service over their
mobile phones, with business customers preferring to use their laptops.

Signage
on the coach headrests will remind passengers to switch on their
phone’s Bluetooth setting and prompt them to download a custom web
browser to allow them to read websites, check e-mails or send instant
messages.

Each coach will be connected to the internet via a 3G
antenna located on the roof. Access speeds will vary according to
mobile network coverage up to a theoretical maximum of 7.2Mbps. The
router on the bus can handle up to 42 users simultaneously.

“When
you are browsing on a mobile phone the download speed is going to be
very quick because it’s mostly text, with no images,” said Kevin
O’Connor, managing director of Bluezone Media, which supplied the
technology to Butlers Buses.

The Bluetooth service is initially
restricted to sites such as Facebook, RTÉ, Freetext, Flickr and
Wikipedia, with considerations for websites with pages specifically
tailored for mobile phone screens.

“We can customise the
service,” said Mr Butler. “Once we approve of a site and it is
compatible with a mobile phone, then that can be added as well.”

Butlers
Buses may seek to earn revenue from the service through advertising,
said Mr Butler. “For example, we could tie it into a tourist
attraction, pubs or restaurants with a discount voucher.”