This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine, Issue 4 2022 Data & Monitoring edition.
An Unparalleled Video-Streaming Experience While Onboard Is Within Reach
High-speed, high-capacity innovations are making rail travel a more effective mode of transportation for passengers, but even though the journey is shorter, the time passengers spend while commuting or travelling is still valuable to them.
Providing passengers with enjoyable or productive ways to spend their onboard time helps increase customer satisfaction.
While many trains offer Wi-Fi, limited bandwidth restricts passengers to email or slow browsing. To offer better onboard entertainment, some rail operators provide walled-garden video-on- demand (VOD) systems, but with the increase in video streaming services, it’s difficult to compete with the selection passengers choose from at home. On top of that, the cost to rail operators for licencing fees for video content can be substantial.
Rail operators need to look to a new solution to improve their onboard entertainment service – that is, giving passengers access to their subscribed video streaming services while onboard. The global video streaming market size was worth USD 59.14 billion in 2021. It is expected to be valued at USD 321.5 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 20.7%. More and more people are opting for streaming services. By meeting passenger expectations to be able to view their content when and where they want to, rail operators can meet customer expectations.
Further, if they can do this, while not impacting internet bandwidth that supports browsing and email, they may even exceed customer expectations. The solution is to bring the content close to the viewers with an edge content delivery system – essentially streaming the video once, but serving it to many passengers. Netskrt designed their edge content delivery network (eCDN) for exactly this challenge. By combining cloud-based machine learning with network-aware edge caching, Netskrt’s eCDN delivers a completely transparent and indistinguishable streaming experience compared to what users experience at home. The Netskrt eCDN improves onboard Wi-Fi performance and passenger satisfaction by enabling seamless internet video streaming from popular content delivery providers, without consuming precious train- to-internet cellular bandwidth. Once in place, passengers can use their own devices and subscriptions to stream ultra-high-definition (UHD) video content as well as select live broadcasts, such as sporting events.
Use the form opposite to get in touch with Netskrt Systems directly to discuss any requirements you might have.