SpringNet Chooses Bluesocket for Secure and Seamless Wireless Solution
SpringNet and Bluesocket Deliver Wi-Fi to Support Growth of Springfield, Missouri Downtown Area
BURLINGTON, Mass., - April 19, 2005 - Bluesocket, Inc., the leader in open wireless security and management solutions, today announced that SpringNet®, a division of City Utilities, selected Bluesocket's WG-2100 Wireless Gateway as an integral piece of a cutting-edge wireless project in Springfield, Missouri.
The pilot program, called The Wi-Fi Hot Zone, provides free wireless Internet access within a specific geographic area known as the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District (CID), a revitalized area that is playing a role in economic development in the city. Over the last few years, the downtown area has seen tremendous growth and revitalization. With the support of the downtown businesses, CID facilitates this growth through beautification of streetscapes, maintenance of public parking lots, and through cooperative marketing efforts such as creating a community website, and providing free broadband wireless networks.
The Wi-Fi Hot Zone is intended to provide a value-added feature to downtown Springfield business owners and customers and offer a competitive tool for economic development. Municipal wireless networks are increasing in numbers and this project is an example of that trend.
Bluesocket's Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology meets the highest standards for wireless security, including encryption, transparent authentication, single sign-on, and secure mobility. The WG-2100 Wireless Gateway is designed for organizations with higher throughput user/density needs. The WG-2100 offers hardware-based encryption acceleration and gigabit connectivity (both fiber and copper interfaces).
"SpringNet was looking at alternative solutions to extend our existing fiber network in areas that were cost-prohibitive to build. It was important to find a solution that allowed us to leverage and distribute additional bandwidth in the easiest, most cost-effective way," said Dan Brewer, products and services manager for SpringNet. "Once we saw the Bluesocket gateway, we didn't consider anything else. No other product had the flexibility, the support and the security that we demanded for this project."
The service is available to users for one hour at a time to accommodate downtown customers interested in accessing the Internet. SpringNet's Engineering and Operations group did much of the work themselves, with the backup and support of Sagenet, a St. Louis-based solution provider, who assisted with training and equipment delivery. Bluesocket representatives helped SpringNet understand how wireless technology fit into its existing infrastructure.
"We are very pleased with the network's operation. Users can go from one end of the CID's hot zone to the other and never lose their Internet connection," Brewer continued. "On the first day we had five to 10 users signing up at a time. We expect that to grow exponentially once the weather gets better."
The pilot project is for one year and the goal is to expand the coverage area within the CID if the initial effort is successful.
About SpringNet®
SpringNet is a next generation Metro Ethernet Provider offering Business to Internet access solutions up to 1Gbps and Business-to-Business Ethernet solutions up to 10 Gbps. Interconnected with a host of other broadband carriers, SpringNet is able to provide connectivity virtually anywhere. SpringNet also offers data collocation services at SpringNet Underground. This facility is approximately 85-ft. underground and provides a naturally hardened environment. This highly secure carrier neutral data facility has a dedicated substation feed, redundant UPS, generators, environmental control equipment, as well as physically diverse fiber optic network feeds. SpringNet offers custom space and third, half, or full cabinet configurations for customer systems.
SpringNet has designed all of its services to be of Utility-grade, providing businesses with the solutions they need to address today's demanding data and bandwidth needs.
For more information, please visit SpringNet on the World Wide Web at http://www.springnet.net.
About Bluesocket, Inc.
Founded in 1999, Bluesocket is the leader in open wireless security and management solutions that simplify the complexities of mobile enterprises. Thousands of Bluesocket Wireless Gateways are deployed by leading enterprises including Harvard University, Honeywell, Universal Health Services, Toyota, Parker Hannifin and others who require policy-based, open-systems solutions to secure, manage, and profit from their wireless networks. (www.bluesocket.com ).
Secure Mobility, BlueSecure and BlueView are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bluesocket, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and company names referenced herein are used for identification only and are the property of their respective companies.
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