3Com Establishes New Wireless Strategic Alliances for Creating Easier, More Reliable Hotspot Solutions.MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- 3Com Targets Wireless Hotspots in Hotels, Airport Terminals, Restaurants, Train Stations and Communities to Serve Up "Pay-As-You-Wi-Fi" Wireless Access to Customers 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS COMS 3Com Corporation (stock symbol) COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist COMS Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems COMS City of Manchester Stadium (UK) ) today announced that it has formed strategic alliances with leading gateway vendors to create effortless, plug-and-play solutions for Wi-Fi-certified wireless hotspots worldwide. The strategic alliance vendors' wireless products have passed interoperability testing with 3Com's wireless products to ensure smooth operation of complete hotspot systems. The list of alliance vendors include: Aptilo Networks, IP3 Networks, Nomadix, PatronSoft, Pronto pron·to adv. Informal Without delay; quickly. [Spanish, from Latin pr  mptus; see prompt. Networks and SolutionInc Limited. The prospect of new wireless hotspots, ideally suited for hotels, airport terminals, train stations, cafes and community centers, will also create new opportunities for system integrators within 3Com's channel partner program. Through these new wireless alliances, 3Com will be able to provide a wider range of hotspot solutions. Whether a customer is seeking simple authentication for a wireless hotspot or enhanced roaming capabilities between different technologies, such as Wi-Fi and GPRS/UMTS networks, 3Com and the new strategic alliance vendors can provide tested and proven solutions. The new 3Com wireless hotspot program involves these new wireless strategic vendors who will combine their billing and authentication gateways and software with 3Com's wireless access points, Power over Ethernet Power over Ethernet or PoE technology describes a system to transmit electrical power, along with data, to remote devices over standard twisted-pair cable in an Ethernet network. technology and security devices to build new public wireless LANs (local area networks), better known as "hotspots." "Two of the most important things that hotels, airports, cafes, train stations and shared community venues should consider before choosing and installing a wireless hotspot are interoperability and reliability of all the parts of the solutions," said Aaron Vance, senior analyst, Synergy Research Group. "Once interoperability and reliability have been verified across partners, the system integration required usually goes much smoother. Wireless hotspots don't need to be overcomplicated and, because of the emergence of new efficient integration, businesses can get new revenue streams and enhance customer experiences, whether with a cup of coffee, waiting for a flight, or checking an online reservation at a hotspot." Angelo Lamme, product manager for 3Com, "We recently added features and functionality in our enterprise access points to streamline wireless access for hotspot deployments. For example, the 3Com Wireless Access Point 7250 has a lockable feature to prevent theft, supports Power over Ethernet and allows connectivity for various detachable antennas for flexible coverage and drop ceilings. We added specific hotspot features, such as support for multiple VLANs (up to 32 per radio), multiple SSIDs (up to 32 per radio module), and SSID (Service Set IDentifier) The name assigned to a wireless Wi-Fi network. All devices must use this same, case-sensitive name to communicate, which is a text string up to 32 bytes long. to VLAN See virtual LAN. VLAN - Virtual Local Area Network mapping in our latest firmware release. These features allow customers to support multiple virtual WLANs on a single access point - ideal for hotspot deployments." Not only are they for enterprise applications or small-and-medium-sized business networks, but 3Com wireless solutions are also being used around the world for various hotspot deployments. For example, last year 3Com wireless access points were used at Wimbledon, the famous tennis tournament, and at the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival International festival of the arts, with an emphasis on music and drama. Founded in 1947 by Rudolf Bing, it is held for three weeks each summer. Its theatrical offerings include plays by major international theatrical companies; plays premiered at the in the UK to provide connectivity. Today, many hotels and other venues worldwide rely on 3Com's wireless technologies. Strategic Alliance Vendors Aptilo Networks Aptilo Networks develops system solutions for management, control and billing of PWLAN PWLAN Public Wireless Local Area Network (Public Wireless LAN) and provides Hotspot Managed Services An umbrella term for third-party monitoring and maintaining of computers, networks and software. The actual equipment may be inhouse or at the third-party's facilities, but the "managed" implies an ongoing effort; for example, making sure the equipment is running at a certain quality to services providers such as operators and telcos. Aptilo solutions enable wireless Internet access See how to access the Internet. at public venues, such as hotels, coffee shops, airports and conference centers. Their public WLAN See wireless LAN. WLAN - wireless local area network solutions have been selected by well-known service providers around the world. More than four years of technology development has been invested in the creation of the Aptilo PWLAN Solution which is a feature-rich, flexible PWLAN solution that is carrier class and extremely scalable. The solution can be used for a variety of business models and supports a number of payment and authentication methods. Fortifying a leading position in the marketplace, Aptilo recently acquired Birdstep Technology's IP Zone software solution set, which had achieved 3Com certification prior to becoming a part of Aptilo. With installations in more than 30 countries on five continents, Aptilo is a leading player in its field. IP3 Networks IP3 Networks develops subscriber management software that service providers use to deliver broadband Internet access Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is high speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over modem. Dial-up modems are generally only capable of a maximum bitrate of 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and require the full use of a in public places such as airports, convention centers, hotels and wireless hotspots. IP3 provides a cost-effective, auto-provisioning and billing gateway at the edge that streamlines all deployment and operational needs. IP3 gateways enable auto-provisioning for plug-and-play access and acts as a traffic cop to control access, quality of service and billing. IP3 is unique in the way network administrators can setup multiple group policies for bandwidth control, billing and location-based content delivery. Designed by network engineers for network engineers, IP3 is one of the most robust platforms with the richest feature set available. Nomadix Nomadix is a leading provider of public-access gateways and embedded software Instructions that permanently reside in a ROM or flash memory chip. Embedded software may be immediately available to the CPU or, for faster execution, may be transferred to RAM first and then executed. solutions for creating intelligent networks that deliver transparent, secure, high-speed Internet See broadband. access to the mobile user - virtually anywhere throughout the world. The company is headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., with sales offices in Europe, China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Nomadix sells and supports its products globally through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and partnerships, value added resellers and systems integrators. PatronSoft Patronsoft is a fast-growing Wi-Fi hotspot management software company. FirstSpot -- its flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. -- is the only Windows-based wireless gateway software deployed in more than 30 countries. Using a per-server-based licensing model, FirstSpot offers hotspot owners and operators a start-small-grow-fast solution. Pronto Networks Pronto Networks provides carrier-class Operations Support Systems Operations Support Systems (also called Operational Support Systems or OSS) are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such (OSS Oss (ôs), city (1994 pop. 62,141), North Brabant prov., S Netherlands; chartered 1399. It is a significant industrial center. Manufactures include meat products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment, and metalware. ) that enable operators to cost-effectively deploy, provision and manage large-scale, public WLAN networks and deliver new services. The company's software provides the back-office functionality for hundreds of hotspots and hotzones worldwide. Pronto's solution enables operators to gain a quick time-to-market advantage, minimize deployment and ongoing operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. and create new value-added services. Pronto's OSS handles service provisioning, auto-configuration, authentication, access control, security, pre-paid and post-paid billing, location-based services, and roaming settlement for public Wi-Fi networks. SolutionInc SolutionInc is a leading provider of Internet software that allows travelers easy-to-use, reliable high-speed Internet access. Award-winning SolutionIPT(TM) software simplifies high-speed Internet for the hospitality, travel and leisure, convention, education and resource industries. SolutionIPT(TM) Enterprise makes it possible for multiple-building complexes to centrally manage the provisioning, maintenance, registration and billing of wired and Wi-Fi high-speed Internet services. Solution IPT IPT - IP Telephony (TM) Enterprise Cable provides cable operators the ability to offer high-speed Internet to commercial markets, using existing cable infrastructure on a pay-per-use basis. For more information about 3Com's wireless hotspot solutions and alliances, please visit www.3com.com/hotspots. About 3Com Corporation 3Com is a leading provider of innovative, practical and high-value voice and data networking products, services and solutions for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organizations. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox. 3Com and the 3Com logo are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective holders. |
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