Following is the perspective of Pronto Networks CEO and Wi-Fi expert Jasbir Singh on the future of hot spot roaming
Sheffield, UK, August 01 2003 /The Wi-Fi Technology Forum/-
In light of BT and T-Mobile's decision last week to join the Wireless Broadband Alliance in order to increase inter-continental Wi-Fi roaming, this is an industry issue that is gaining momentum (and importance) by the day. Pronto Networks is a market leader in the Wi-Fi software arena -- its software is currently being used in the provisioning, management and deployment of thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide, including well-known hospitality locations such as Embassy Suites and Holiday Inn.
"Roaming is definitely important in the early stages of the public WLAN market -- as of now, only a patchwork of hot spots are available. The only way to provide footprint to end-users is, in fact, through roaming relationships, as no player today has a vast footprint. In the future, however, we will see roaming settlement clearinghouses emerge, as they did in the cellular industry. Pronto Networks has integrated roaming settlement capabilities with the two global aggregators (iPass and GRIC) and Wi-Fi-only aggregator Boingo. Pronto has also developed inter-WISP roaming capabilities, thus enabling all its operator customers to offer bi-lateral roaming and therefore creating a virtual, global hot spot network.
Inter-WISP, multi-lateral roaming agreements are a short-term solution until these clearinghouses emerge."
Areas of Expertise
* Cost-effective deployment and management of large public WLAN networks, commonly referred to as public Wi-Fi 'hot spots'
* Open, modular Wireless Operations Support Systems (OSS) for provisioning, access control, security, pre-paid and post-paid billing, and roaming settlement for large public WLAN networks
* Managed WLAN services for greenfield hot spot operators
* Hot spot business models
* Positioning and strategies of major players in the hot spot market, including Cometa, Wayport, Pronto, Toshiba, iPass, Intel, HP, etc.
Industry Trends and Key Issues
* Greenfield operator "land grab" vs. carrier large scale deployments
* Security / technology standards regarding public WLANs
* Inter-operator roaming among hot spots
* Integrating WLAN with an existing 2.5/3G mobile infrastructure for billing and roaming
* Trends in managed WLAN services for greenfield operators
* VoIP via WiFi and the potential impact on 3G
* Hot spot usage statistics and deployment rates
* Lessons learned from failed WiFi ventures (i.e., MobileStar, Joltage, HereUAre, etc.)
* Key challenges/opportunities for hotels, restaurants, and other franchises deploying hot spots
* Drivers of hot spot growth in the Multi-Dwelling Units (MDU) / Multi-Tenant Units (MTU) market
* Future revenue generators at hot spots / value-add applications on top of Wi-Fi (i.e., music and video downloading, gaming, merchandise purchasing, location-aware advertising, wireless printing, cyber coupons, etc.)
* Intel's play in WiFi (note: Pronto is a portfolio company of Intel Capital)
Biography
Jasbir is President & CEO of Pronto Networks, a company that he founded to develop carrier-grade OSS solutions for large public WLAN networks. He has more than 18 years of high tech and telecommunications management expertise.
He started his career as an Engineering Manager at C-DoT, in charge of SS7 and ISDN groups. As a manager in C-DoT, he directed the design and development of SS7 capabilities in India's first commercial digital switching system.
Singh was previously founder and chief technical officer of Yack Inc. and was responsible for the development of its Internet Program Guide and content management software. This core enabling technology powered Yack's syndication network. Jasbir is also the Chairman of Cybermine Internet Incubator, a holding company supporting and investing in businesses that focus on wireless infrastructure and applications.
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 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 Draper Fisher Jurvetson and the Intel Communications Fund and was recently listed as Wired Magazine's Top 25 Wi-Fi companies to watch. For more information about Pronto Networks, visit
http://www.prontonetworks.com/.
If you're interested in speaking with Mr. Singh to learn more about his unique perspective on Wi-Fi roaming, please contact:
Jessica Hatcher
PR Counsel for Pronto Networks
312.329.3971
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