The Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA), which provides bus service to the Lancaster, PA area, has added T-Mobile Wi-Fi connectivity. The free service, which is built on both 5G and LTE, is being provided on RRTA’s entire fleet in the city and Lancaster County.
T-Mobile said that during the past year it has added capacity and extended coverage to the LTE network serving the Lancaster market. It also launched 5G in parts of the market in 2019.
“I am pleased that this new partnership between RRTA and T-Mobile will benefit the lives of Lancaster County residents by making their daily commutes more productive and enjoyable,” State Senator Ryan Aument (R-36th District), said in a press release. “I also appreciate RRTA’s willingness to be responsive to those they serve by hearing requests to add Wi-Fi to buses and acting swiftly to accommodate those requests.”
The release implies that T-Mobile offers the service for free but didn’t detail financial arrangements of the RRTA offering such as whether it has an expiration date or who owns the Wi-Fi equipment on the bus and whether T-Mobile installed it at no cost.
T-Mobile isn’t the first company to deliver Wi-Fi to buses. For example, Google has outfitted school buses with Wi-Fi in some areas.
The idea was to turn the buses into study halls in rural areas, where students may have commutes as long as 90 minutes in one direction.
