Minneapolis Wins Wireless Communities Best Practices Award

BelAir Networks, the leading provider of mobile broadband mesh network solutions, congratulates the city of Minneapolis for winning the W2i Digital Cities Wireless Communities Best Practices Award for its high-speed wireless broadband network. Through the citywide wireless initiative known as Wireless Minneapolis, service provider, USI Wireless, is covering the city with a high-speed broadband wireless network that addresses public safety, public works and public access applications. Minneapolis CIO, Lynn Willenbring, received the award on behalf of the city at the W2i Digital Cities Convention in Washington, DC.

“This award recognizes our innovative approach to Wireless Minneapolis and our technology commitment to residents, businesses, visitors, public safety personnel and government workers,” said Lynn Willenbring, CIO, City of Minneapolis. “We were certainly lucky this wireless network was in place following the collapse of the I-35 bridge, to assist emergency teams with recovery efforts and provide a reliable communication alternative for members of the public.”

Wireless Minneapolis enabled interoperable public safety communications following the bridge disaster, delivering real-time video surveillance and transmitting huge mapping files. Within minutes of the collapse, USI Wireless also offered free network access to the public, increasing its customer base to more than 6000 concurrent users and providing a measure of relief to overtaxed cellular networks.

“Minneapolis is a role model for cities that are looking to go wireless in the US and around the world so they really deserve this best practices award,” said Joe Caldwell, CEO and Co-Founder, USI Wireless. “We’re honored to work with the city on this world-class wireless network.”

“BelAir Networks is proud that our commitment to delivering high performance, high capacity wireless broadband networks matched the city’s commitment to offering the highest level of technology to their community,” Jim Freeze, SVP of Marketing & Alliances for BelAir Networks.

About US Internet
Founded in 1995, US Internet is an international provider of Internet and hosting services. In the contiguous U.S., the company has points of presence in over 2,000 cities, enabling those with a mobile lifestyle to connect to the Internet from almost any location. They also have a collocation presence in Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI, London, UK, and Sydney, AU. The company’s suite of Internet and hosting services are not only comprehensive but can also be custom fit for any enterprise-level need. Services include, but are not limited to, Internet voice and data, web hosting, anti-spam and anti-virus, remote system backup, collocation services, disaster recovery, ecommerce services, web site statistics, network monitoring, and much more. In addition, US Internet is focused on providing its customers with superior support service, which is backed by a seasoned technology group who understands the needs and issues of today’s businesses and employees. They are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via online, email and telephone. At US Internet, you to get your net’s worth. For more information, please visit www.usinternet.com.

About BelAir Networks
BelAir Networks is the first company to offer scalable, mobile wireless broadband mesh networking solutions with the highest quality for data, voice and video. The company teams with world-class global partners to deploy proven, cost-effective wireless broadband mesh networks. BelAir’s wireless networking solutions are built on the only multi-service architecture for municipal wireless broadband deployments of Wi-Fi, WiMAX and 3G Cellular networks. Built specifically for outdoor-in deployments, BelAir Networks’ patented solution delivers the lowest cost per user and deploys in days, blending into the physical infrastructure of downtown business districts, hotels and resorts, and campuses. Founded in 2001, BelAir Networks is a privately held company. For more info, visit www.belairnetworks.com.

Sheila Burpee Duncan
BelAir Networks
613.254.7070 ext. 134
sburpeeduncan@belairnetworks.com

Alicia Mickelsen
Breakaway Communications for BelAir Networks
212.616.6002
amick@breakawaycom.com
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