AirMedia to build Wi-Fi system on Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway

AirMedia Group Inc. ("AirMedia" or the "Company"), a leading operator of out-of-home advertising platforms in China targeting mid-to-high-end consumers, today announced that Guangzhou Meizheng Advertising Co., Ltd. ("Meizheng"),  one of its consolidated entities, in which AirMedia has 54% of the equity interest, has recently won a bidding and entered into an agreement with Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corporation ("GRGC") to explore the opportunity of Wi-Fi services on high-speed rail.

GRGC is the first regional railway bureau that pioneers to offer Wi-Fi services on board high-speed trains in China. GRGC granted Meizheng the right to build Wi-Fi system on high-speed trains under its operation including the D-prefaced bullet trains on the lines of Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Xiamen-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway, and Hainan Eastern Ring High-Speed Railway. Meizheng also obtained the right to operate advertising in the aforementioned Wi-Fi system. In addition to the Wi-Fi connectivity, AirMedia plans to provide a digital cabin entertainment platform, which will be built on intranet, for travelers.

Before this grant, Meizheng held the rights to install tablets with preloaded contents and operate advertising on these tablets, which currently have no Wi-Fi connection, on every seat in the first-class cabin of D-prefaced bullet trains and high-speed trains operated by Shanghai railway bureau, Wuhan railway bureau, and Zhengzhou railway bureau and on all seats on board the high-speed trains on the GRGC's Wuhan-Guangzhou and Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong lines.

"We are excited about this new development in our business transformation to build nationwide wireless coverage on airplanes and high-speed trains to reach hundreds of millions of travelers," commented Mr. Herman Guo, chairman and chief executive officer of AirMedia. "Internet has been an integral part of people's daily life, even for travelers on the go. We believe the huge traveler volumes by airplanes and high-speed trains, which can be easily monetized, have great commercial value. We intend to continue expanding our territory of in-flight and on-train Wi-Fi network to more airlines and more railways."

SOURCE: marketwatch.com