Pronto provides glue for municipal, public safety nets

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JOANIE WEXLER ON WIRELESS IN THE
ENTERPRISE
10/26/05
Today's focus: Pronto provides glue for municipal, public
safety nets

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Municipalities band together into national network
* Links related to Wireless in the Enterprise
* Featured reader resource
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USERS AWASH IN EMERGING WIRELESS OPTIONS

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Today's focus: Pronto provides glue for municipal, public
safety nets

By Joanie Wexler

You might recall my recent coverage of the September CTIA
Wireless Association show, where former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt
begged the wireless industry to weave together an interoperable
nationwide public safety network.

Shortly thereafter, Pronto Networks announced it had signed up a
slew of municipalities to connect into a common, nationwide
broadband wireless network, in large part to serve public safety
applications. (It so happens, Hundt was quoted in Pronto's press
release announcing the effort, which it calls the UniFi Digital
Communities Grid. Coincidence? I think not! Reed sits on
Pronto's board of directors, according to the company's Web
site.)

Pronto, by the way, is in the business of offering operations
support services (OSS), such as billing, settlement, security,
provisioning and configuration, to public wireless LAN hot spot
services. For the UniFi Grid effort, the company offers one free
Network Services Controller to any municipality wishing to join.

The controller provides Wi-Fi access to the other networks
connecting to the grid and supports 200 users. The controller is
also the platform for the application services and OSS.

The service platform is the glue that binds together Wi-Fi
(802.11), WiMAX (802.16), mesh topologies and public safety
network infrastructures at the lower network layers, making all
communications and services function in a common way across the
local municipal networks the various cities choose to deploy.

At least 43 municipalities in California, Florida,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas are already
signed on. Participating municipalities have agreed to give
reciprocal access to all government workers from participating
communities. Cities have the option to charge for access to
generate additional revenue or can opt to allow visitors to roam
for free on their network.

Pronto says it has committed to invest up to $15 million in
products and services to connect up to 500 municipalities in the
next 18 months. The company's presentation materials indicate
support for hierarchical control of emergency policies,
connecting city and state public safety organizations to federal
organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency
and the Department of Homeland Security.

Other applications include enabling inter-municipality roaming
services to citizens, automated meter reading (AMR), traffic and
pedestrian control, video surveillance, and supervisory control
and data acquisition (SCADA) applications for water and
wastewater treatment. They are provided by software development
and systems integration partners Cellnet (AMR and SCADA), Cross
Current (public safety and computer-aided dispatch) and Lexis
(wireless parking management systems and equipment).

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco talking IP-radio nets
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir9743>
2. How to respond to a security breach
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir9744>
3. School traps infected PCs in its web
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir9375>
4. Cartoon of the Week <http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir9376>

5. CTO: BellSouth lost 9 COs to Katrina
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir9745>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Joanie Wexler

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology
writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most
of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer
networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles
published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future
article topics. Reach her at <mailto:joanie@jwexler.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter sponsored by Nortel
Building the Mobile Enterprise Online Expo

The workplace is changing rapidly. Employees need to be
untethered from their desks while remaining connected and
accessible. This online event helps you solve your enterprise
mobility challenges by bringing together industry leaders,
including Nortel's CTO and CIO and RIM's VP Enterprise Systems,
to discuss the hottest topics in enterprise mobility. Broadcast
live to your desktop on Nov. 8, 2005. Register today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117983
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

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http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/index.html
Wireless research center Latest wireless news, analysis and
resource links http://www.networkworld.com/topics/wireless.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

GRID TAKING SHAPE IN THE ENTERPRISE

Grid computing continues to gain ground and vendors such as IBM,
Platform Computing, Sun, SAS and Univa are launching services,
products and partnerships to support this growth. But will
challenges such as software licensing, security and bandwidth
issues hinder grid rollouts? Click here for more:

<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/101005-grid.html>
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