FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pronto and BelAir Join Forces to Provide Low Cost, Easy-to-Deploy Broadband Wi-Fi NetworksFirst Deployment Unwires the Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, Texas
Baltimore, MD – Voice over Wi-Fi Planet – June 15, 2005 – Pronto Networks, a leading provider of carrier-class operations support systems (OSS) for managing large scale Wi-Fi networks, and BelAir Networks, the first company to offer scalable wide-area wireless broadband solutions for metro-scale deployments, today announced a partnership that offers service providers solutions to cost-effectively and easily deploy complete large scale wireless networks.  The companies’ first joint deployment covers the downtown/Alamo Plaza area of San Antonio, Texas. 

The joint offering gives service providers the ability to deploy metro-region wireless networks quickly, and in a way that guarantees users the highest quality experience.  It combines the BelAir100 and BelAir200 Multi-service Switch Routers with the Pronto OSS for a robust end-to-end metro scale solution.  The Pronto/BelAir partnership enables the companies’ sales and marketing teams to work together on channel programs, cross training, joint marketing and sales, and customer opportunities. 

Working with SA Unwired.net, a local San Antonio area service provider, Hotzone Integrators (www.hotzoneintegrators.com), a full service consulting and integration firm, and NAS Wireless (www.naswireless.com), one of the leading integrators of turnkey Wi-Fi wireless LAN (WLAN) and outdoor WAN networks in the United States, designed and deployed the wireless hot zone that spans several blocks of shops, restaurants and businesses in the Alamo Plaza, located just across the street from the Mission San Antonio de Valero - The Alamo.   It took SA Unwired, Hotzone Integrators and NAS Wireless less than a day to install a network that provides ubiquitous coverage to the plaza.  More than 2.5 million people a year visit the Alamo and the surrounding plaza. With the new network, residents, visitors and tourists can wirelessly access the Internet anywhere in the hot zone.

“We conducted a rigorous review of solutions before settling on the BelAir/Pronto solution,” said Hank Austin of SA Unwired.  “We are working to expand the network beyond the immediate area, and needed a solution that could scale to include multiple applications running on multiple networks leveraging a variety of wireless standards.  BelAir’s modular design, and high throughput, combined with Pronto’s comprehensive subscriber billing and management capabilities created a solution that was head and shoulders above the alternatives.”

The initial BelAir/Pronto installation in the Alamo Plaza area includes 4 BelAir100 and 1 BelAir200 Wireless Multi-service Nodes mounted on buildings in the downtown area.  Hotzone Integrators’ extensive experience in designing outdoor networks ensured that the functionalities of the BelAir/Pronto solution would be utilized optimally.  Initially, SA Unwired plans to charge users $3 dollars per hour, or $10 dollars a day for wireless Internet access.  As the network grows in functionality and users, SA Unwired expects pricing to change.

“Working with Pronto enables us to provide our customers with an integrated management and billing solution capable of handling the complex wireless deployments that are BelAir’s sweet spot,” said Phil Belanger, Vice President of Marketing, BelAir Networks Inc.  “It is the perfect complement for our broadband wireless infrastructure.”

SA Unwired selected Pronto’s OSS on its Managed Services platform, hosted at Pronto’s data center.  With Pronto’s Managed Services, service providers have access to Pronto’s complete OSS solution for a low, fixed monthly fee, and can enter the market and capture share quickly as they focus on acquiring customers.  As they grow, the hosted service scales to meet their needs and easily transitions to an in-house owned and managed model at any time. SA Unwired is also using Pronto’s customer support center to provide end user phone and email support.