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VIVATO AND PRONTO NETWORKS BRING WI-FI ZONE TO CITY OF KENTWOOD
Grand Rapids HotSpotsCoolCity Project Brings Free Wireless Internet
Access to Kentwood Residents, Employees and Visitors
Grand Rapids, Mich., August 3, 2005 - The Cities of Kentwood
and Grand Rapids are pleased to announce the launch of Kentwood's
wireless broadband demonstration network. The network, which extends
approximately a half-mile in all directions around Kentwood's City
Hall, is provided by Vivato, Inc. and Pronto Networks. Use of the
network will be free to all users during an 8-week demonstration
period.
"One thing that makes this project special is that so many
people and organizations, from government to businesses to non-profits,
have formed a partnership to work collaboratively to bring wireless
broadband technology to our community. Something must be right with
this whole concept to excite so many organizations. I want to thank
Mayor Root and the City of Kentwood for hosting this demonstration;
together we can give our region a competitive advantage." said
Mayor George K. Heartwell.
"I am excited to work with wireless technology providers like
Vivato and Pronto Networks to bring wireless Internet access to
our community," said Kentwood Mayor Richard Root. "During
this testing phase, the wireless internet is available in a limited
area around City Hall. It remains my goal to construct a city-wide
wireless network without a burden on taxpayers, and we're confident
we can do so by working with these innovative companies. They understand
the technology, how to build it, how to operate it; and we understand
the important uses that can be applied to police and fire services,
addressing the digital divide and creating an environment for economic
development."
"Because of Vivato's extended range and lower equipment cost,
cities like the Cities of Kentwood and Grand Rapids can enjoy a
much lower total cost of ownership for a large wireless hot zone,"
said Dan Vortherms, Vice President of Network Operations, Vivato.
"We are looking forward to working with Grand Rapids and with
Pronto Networks," Vortherms added.
Pronto Networks supplied the key back-office operational functions
for the deployment, including customer portal customization and
quality of service. Pronto is also hosting the wireless service
from its managed services operation in San Jose, CA.
"We are pleased to be working with industry leader Vivato
in bringing seamless wireless connectivity to the Cities of Kentwood
and Grand Rapids," said Jasbir Singh, president and CEO of
Pronto Networks. "Our joint deployment at Kentwood City Hall
highlights how easy it is for city employees and visitors alike
to log onto the network and quickly get the information they need.
We're honored to be part of the City of Grand Rapids' HotSpotsCoolCity
wireless demonstration and applaud their forward-thinking initiative
to develop a community broadband network."
About Grand Rapids HotSpotsCoolCity Program
The Grand Rapids HotSpotsCoolCity wireless demonstration networks
are being deployed in a phased approach over the summer months.
The project involves ten demonstration network sites and participating
vendors. Each demonstration network will be a minimum of ¼-square
mile by ¼-square mile in size, and wireless network use will
be free to all for the duration of the demonstration. The wireless
demonstration networks are all deployed and operated at the vendor's
expense. Demonstration results and recommendations regarding an
optimum course of action will be reported following the demonstration
projects. A request for proposal for a citywide wireless network
will be issued following the demonstration networks. For more information,
please visit: www.wirelessgr.com
About Vivato
Vivato, Inc. is a wireless systems infrastructure company with technology
that is based upon an innovative signal processing and antenna design.
Vivato's unique system architecture enables cost-effective, large-scale
outdoor and indoor wireless deployments for metros, rural communities,
airports, seaports, warehouses and universities. Vivato is headquartered
in Spokane, Washington. For more information, please visit www.vivato.com
or call 1-214-264-1001.
About Pronto Networks
Pronto Networks, based in Pleasanton, Calif., provides carrier-class
Operations Support Systems (OSS) that enable network operators to
deploy and manage large public hot spot and hot zone networks. The
company's software handles provisioning, configuration, authentication,
access control, security, pre-paid and post-paid billing, and roaming
settlement for large public WLAN networks, in addition to remotely
managing and updating multi-vendor hardware and Wi-Fi switches.
Pronto Networks is funded by BV Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
and the Intel Communications Fund. Pronto Networks was recently
named to the AlwaysOn List of Top 100 Private Companies for the
third consecutive year, and in 2003 received Wired Magazine's Top
25 Wi-Fi Companies to Watch and Computerworld's Innovative Technology
Awards. For more information about Pronto Networks, visit www.prontonetworks.com.
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