Rajant Corporation, the pioneer of Kinetic Mesh wireless networks and global distribution partner AIRadio, has solved the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM)’s Metro M8 line connectivity challenge, making reliable Wi-Fi available to all commuters. Using Rajant Kinetic Mesh wireless radio nodes, known as Hawk BreadCrumbs®, all M8 passengers can access 300Mbps of uninterrupted internet while traveling at high speeds underground. IMM debuted the Rajant-enabled Wi-Fi commuter service on August 17, 2023, the 24th anniversary of the August 17, 1999, earthquake.

Istanbul, Turkey, is a vibrant and dynamic modern city that seamlessly blends its rich history with a thriving arts scene, a bustling culinary scene, and a modern transport network. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) has been working to improve internet access by expanding free public Wi-Fi networks across the city, including its metro lines of the Istanbul Metro, to provide seamless connectivity for commuters.

The Istanbul Metro, a rapid, underground transit railway, opened its first line in 1875 and is still serving as one of the oldest subway lines in the world. Hosting 757,971,355 passengers in 2022, Metro Istanbul carried the population of Istanbul approximately 47 times.

The Challenge

• The M8 metro line, which carries over 40,000 passengers per day and includes 13 stations, runs in two parallel ~14.3km underground tunnels (total ~30km) with trains traveling at speeds more than 80km/h. The IMM required an average throughput of 250Mbps for each of the ten trains operating on the M8 line to achieve reliable commuter Wi-Fi. This meant the network architecture had to be capable of potentially delivering multiple Gbps of throughput.
• Deploying a dedicated LTE or even a 5G network was not an option as there were several serious challenges, including CAPEX and OPEX costs, as well as technology complexity. Attempting to deploy a fully Wi-Fi-based network also faced challenges with high-speed mobility and the potential cost due to the large number of Wi-Fi APs required to handle the volume of M8’s commuter traffic.

Download the Case Study to see how the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality used Rajant Kinetic Mesh to successfully implement a high-speed wireless solution in its metro lines of the Istanbul Metro to provide seamless connectivity.