Motorola selects Portal Software to power BT Retail's launch of public wireless LAN services.Portal Software Portal Software was founded in 1985 as Portal Information Network, one of the first ISPs in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded by John Little. The company offered its own interface through modem access that featured Internet email. , Inc. (Nasdaq:PRSF PRSF Presidio of San Francisco (US National Park Service) PRSF Peoples Republic of San Francisco ), a provider of billing and customer management software, announced recently that Motorola has implemented Portal's Infranet to power BT Openzone BT Openzone is the name given to a network of Wi-Fi hotspots deployed in part by British Telecom. These hotspots are generally deployed in cafés, hotels, stations and airports, however anybody wishing to deploy a hotspot can purchase "Openzone in a Box" directly from BT. , the public wireless LAN (WLAN See wireless LAN. WLAN - wireless local area network ) service offered by BT Group plc's Retail business. Motorola's Professional Services Group deployed the solution, which includes a subscriber management and rating system for innovative prepaid and postpaid services on the first commercial public WLAN network in the UK. BT needed a packaged solution that could minimize time to market for WLAN services. Motorola recommended Portal's Infranet because it offered BT a cost-effective, quick-to-implement solution; Motorola was able to complete the first phase of implementation in less than eight weeks. The joint solution coexists with an existing postpaid billing system and currently addresses voucher management, real-time balance management, rating, authentication, real-time authorization, credit card top up, and customer self care. "Motorola and Portal delivered a WLAN solution that brought our BT Openzone service to market quickly. The real-time system allows us to innovate with our price plans to include prepaid plans, which are critical to penetrating new market segments," said Mike Langston, managing director of BT Retail Products and Enterprises. "Both Motorola and Portal Software have considerable experience in the public WLAN market, and we look forward to contributing to BT Retail's success in this market," said Maggy McClelland, General Manager of Motorola's Professional Services organization in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Refers to that region of the world. For example, one might see products packaged differently for the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets. . "We value our partnership with Portal, which has been a strategic partner for global wireless markets since October 2000 within the WLAN, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) The first high-speed digital data service provided by cellular carriers that used the GSM technology. GPRS added a packet-switched channel to GSM, which uses dedicated, circuit-switched channels for voice conversations. and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) A method for transmitting simultaneous signals over a shared portion of the spectrum. The foremost application of CDMA is the digital cellular phone technology from QUALCOMM that operates in the 800 MHz band and 1.9 GHz PCS band. environments." "Motorola's selection of Portal is an enormous validation of the best-in-class WLAN solution we've built together," said Alan Laing, vice president general manager EMEA, Portal Software (Europe) Ltd. "Telecommunications operators everywhere are planning to launch WLAN services, and we intend to continue to lead this new market by offering customers superior value through greater pricing flexibility, reduced implementation costs, and faster time to market." |
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