Albany Unveils Free Outdoor Wi-Fi Network

New York State Capital Selects Cisco Outdoor Wireless Technology for Residents, Visitors and Municipal Services

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Nov. 29, 2006 - Cisco® today announced that Albany, the state capital of New York, will begin deployment of Cisco’s ServiceMesh solution to provide free Internet access to residents and visitors, as well as to use the wireless network as a platform for city endeavors, including public safety services and new forms of economic development.

Local service provider Tech Valley Communications will spearhead the management and deployment of the Cisco ServiceMesh solution throughout the capital, initiating Wi-Fi services at key strategic points of commerce and industry. As Tech Valley expands the network and public service bands become readied on the 4.9 GHz channel, the city also plans to leverage the Wi-Fi mesh network to augment and expand public safety, emergency response and other city services.

“This is a perfect holiday present to the people of Albany,” said Mayor, Jerry Jennings. “Tech Valley Communications’ efforts will make working, shopping, living and enjoying the many nightlife activities in downtown Albany even more convenient and effortless. Just as importantly, this is an important first step in providing Internet access to everyone in our community, throughout all of the neighborhoods. We’re making Albany a Smart City by cutting the wires and thereby the barriers to accessing the Internet, which will make New York’s Capital City a more desirable destination.”

“Wireless is the ideal platform for cities to deploy a myriad of new services that benefits their residents, visitors and businesses,” said Alan Cohen, senior director of mobility solutions at Cisco. “With a complete portfolio of end-to-end solutions, Cisco provides robust wireless broadband access, allows for inexpensive video surveillance, and allows cities to use new mobility services, such as location tracking, to better manage their key assets while lowering administrative costs.”
Cisco ServiceMesh Outdoor Wi-Fi Solution

Cisco ServiceMesh is an integrated, tested, and manageable end-to-end system that securely and dynamically provisions subscriber access and value-added services across wireless mesh networks. The solution allows service providers such as Tech Valley Communications to move quickly from proposal to deployment while working closely with municipalities and other partners. Unlike other wireless vendors who offer only wireless access products, Cisco ServiceMesh saves service providers the headache of testing the integration with back-end components to manage and optimize wireless services.

Purpose built for large-scale municipal deployments, the Cisco Aironet 1500 Series is the anchor to Albany’s mesh network. It offers several unique features that make it an ideal choice for the city. Its robust design allows it to be deployed virtually anywhere - rooftops, light posts, power poles - and under the most severe weather conditions. With a zero-configuration deployment capability, the 1500 Series contains additional built-in intelligence so it can automatically set-up and configure itself to operate within a mesh network and “self-heal” if it should lose power or incur some other interruption, thus reducing maintenance and management costs.

More information about Cisco wireless mesh networks can be found at: www.cisco.com/go/servicemesh, and www.cisco.com/go/wirelessmesh.
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