Pronto Networks Introduces Aprisa, a New Wi-Fi Service Delivery Appliance


Easy-to-Install Appliance Enables Operators to Quickly Roll Out and Operate up to 100 Hotspots


NEW DELHI, INDIA ? 12th Annual Convergence India Conference ? March 18, 2004 ?/Wi-Fi Technology News/- Pronto Networks, a leading provider of carrier-class OSS solutions for large Wi-Fi hot spot networks, today announced the launch of Aprisa, a new Wi-Fi service delivery appliance that will enable operators to gain a time-to-market advantage by rapidly rolling out and operating networks of 25, 50 or 100 Wi-Fi hotspots.

Aprisa enables operators to realize quick returns on their investments, as time to market is accelerated and the upfront cost of entry is significantly lowered when compared to building a homegrown solution.

Aprisa provides complete, out-of-the-box, back office functionality for operating public Wi-Fi networks, including access control, pre-paid and post-paid billing, QoS controls, customer care, network management, and roaming capabilities with major aggregators. Aprisa comes with a quick- tart utility which enables easy installation at an operator?s Network Operations Center (NOC). Deployment of hotspots is also fast and easy, as hotspot controllers can be remotely provisioned from the NOC. Aprisa also enables the operator to offer location-specific service plans and walled gardens, all easily managed at the NOC.

?As Wi-Fi continues to grow around the world, operators are demanding complete service delivery solutions that can offer simple, effective and rapid installation of public hotspot networks to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace,? said Paramjit Singh Puri, general manager for the SAARC region of Pronto Networks. ?Pronto?s Aprisa allows operators to capitalize on the rapid growth in the public WLAN market and to achieve quick time-to-revenue.?
Key features of Pronto?s Aprisa offering include:
! A self-install utility that enables operators to quickly setup and configure the appliance
! A pre-loaded application on a 1U, rackable x86 server based on a Linux Operating System
! Licensing options for 25, 50 or 100 hotspot controllers
! Complete back-office functionality required to run a network of hotspots, based on Pronto?s leading OSS software solution

Operators with deployment plans greater than 100 hotspots have the option of installing Pronto?s carrier-grade OSS software, which provides more flexibility with legacy system integration, deployment of WLAN hardware from multiple vendors, and introduction of value-added services, such as VoWLAN.

Pronto will be showcasing Aprisa at the 12th Annual Convergence India conference at Pragati
Maidan in New Dehli, from March 18-20, 2004 (Hall # 11, Stall # 274). Mangesh Kolhatkar, Director
of Solutions Marketing for Pronto Networks, will deliver a presentation at the conference titled, ?Wi-Fi as a Revenue Source: Opportunities and Challenges,? at 10:00 a.m. on March 19th.
Aprisa is available immediately, with prices starting at US$14,995 for 25 locations. Pronto Hotspot Controllers are priced at $799 each. For more information, please visit http://www.prontonetworks.com/prontoaprisa.html.

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 BV Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and the Intel Communications Fund. In 2003, Pronto Networks received several awards including Wired Magazine?s Top 25 Wi-Fi Companies to Watch, the AlwaysOn list of Top 100 Private Companies, and Computerworld?s Innovative Technology Awards. For more information about Pronto Networks, please visit http://www.prontonetworks.com.