BEIJING, Nov. 19 -- Beijing has promised to offer access to 4G services on all public buses by the end of October. It is expected that passengers will purchase commodities or services online via 4G or free Wi-Fi provided on public transportation.

This sort of consumption is characteristic of the "online to offline" model, in which the purchasing and reserving processes take place online while consumption and operation take place offline. The "online to offline" model serves as a bridge connecting physical stores to online customers: stores can be introduced to a great number of customers, while customers can obtain information about restaurants, fitness centers, theatres and beauty salons and choose what they like through comparison.

The internet's expanding role in people's lives and work has created an increasing need for mobile networking without space and time constraints. In addition to all the buses in Beijing, more than 20,000 buses in 34 other cities will be equipped with 4G services, according to Wang Feiqin, CMO of a major Wi-Fi company.