Quiconnect

June 1, 2006

Quiconnect signs WLAN interconnection deals with Naxos and Meteor Networks to broaden Sprint’s hotspot coverage in France

• Agreement provides coverage at 339 Meteor Networks operated hotspots and at key bus, train and subway stations in Paris through RATP subsidiary, Naxos
• Agreement ensures easy Internet connectivity, access to email and corporate systems for Sprint customers travelling throughout France

Quiconnect announces that it has signed WLAN interconnection agreements with Naxos and Meteor Networks to further broaden hotspot coverage for Sprint’s enterprise customers as they travel in France. The deals are effective immediately and add additional high quality footprint to a rapidly expanding Sprint Wi-Fi network which Quiconnect has been building “virtually” for the carrier since April 2005 when it was chosen to extend Sprint’s WLAN coverage outside the USA.

Quiconnect specialises in providing systems integration and interconnectivity management solutions for telecommunications companies in the wireless broadband sector. It connects discrete commercial IP networks globally into a single worldwide virtual network that is individually branded for its telco customers, manages all billing and clearinghouse services, with automated connection making access simple for users regardless of the network used.

Naxos is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RATP , the world’s largest multimodal transport organisation and the independent authority which manages the RER (the Express Regional Network), Metro trains, buses and tramways in Paris and the Ile de France. Using over 300km of Parisian train tunnels to run its physical infrastructure, Naxos is a licensed telecoms operator acting commercially as a ‘carriers carrier’ – its dark fibre, SDH , Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi network technology is made available to all service providers wishing to provide connectivity in the Paris region.

Bertrand Lenoir, Naxos’ sales director, says, “Wi-Fi has been made available on train platforms for all customers on RATP operated RER routes, namely lines A and B, at select metro stations along with the 38 bus route which runs north-south in Paris. The initiative with Quiconnect means Sprint customers can now get automatic access to the Internet at 39 Parisian locations Naxos manages including Gare du Nord, Châtelet, Montparnasse and La Défense.”

Quiconnect has also signed an agreement with Meteor Networks, the number one independent Wireless Internet Service Provider in France, who’s footprint comprises 620 hotspot locations at hotels, restaurants, business and shopping centres and post offices nationwide. The initial deal involves adding Meteor’s hotel hotspots to the Quiconnect virtual platform – some 339 sites – at leading chains including Best Western, Inter Hôtel, Exclusive Hôtels, Holiday Inn and Relais de Paris. François Héry, Meteor Networks’ chief financial officer, says, “Clearly we bring extensive hotspot coverage today to Quiconnect and all its telco customers – in this case Sprint – but what is particularly attractive to us is that Quiconnect’s technical approach caters for not only data access, but scales to cover Internet Telephony – a key future development area for us.”

The Quiconnect approach is unique as Sprint users logging onto Naxos or Meteor owned hotspots are automatically routed to a familiar Sprint branded login page, authenticated (using RADIUS) to allow the user data access, with Quiconnect then providing all the necessary billing services. Andrew Schultz, Quiconnect’s head of marketing and strategy, explains, “To date, public Wi-Fi access has been terribly complex because each location is visually different along with different log in processes - scratch card, credit card, remembering passwords or the need for the user to know that his ISP has a roaming agreement with a particular third party aggregator. We’ve removed all this so that users can do what they actually want – get fast Internet access with authorisation and billing automatically occurring behind the scenes.”

To facilitate easy integration, configuration and ongoing management of the Naxos operated hotspots into the “virtual network”, Quiconnect has installed its new remote access solution, Hotspot Robot, on their network. This allows Quiconnect’s systems engineers to access Naxos’ network, as if they were located at one of the Naxos hotspots. By testing in this way they can ensure that Sprint’s customers can gain Internet access, ensure agreed test plans are carried out quickly and systems simply upgraded. Hotspot Robot means less impact on Naxos’ own IT resource and ensures service availability for the telco customer. By making public Wi-Fi access simple whatever the device – laptop, gaming console or mobile phone - Quiconnect is in effect establishing a system similar to the banks where cash machines can be accessed by all – the Cirrus or Maestro approach. This will result in more and more WLAN usage and drive revenue growth for its telco customers.

Serving 96% of the Fortune 500 companies, Sprint has been developing its Wi-Fi presence extensively in the USA over the past several years. Capitalising on its industry expertise and innovative business model, Quiconnect has rapidly signed a range of deals with both telcos and network operators in addition to Naxos and Meteor Networks. The deal makes the Sprint virtual network a globally reality and provides Sprint customers with a huge number of locations to get connected outside of the USA.

Other contracts signed in the past 12 months include: o Hub Télécom (formerly ADP Télécom) to give Sprint customers access to most major French airports such as Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Lyon, numerous business hotels, along with key exhibition and convention centres.
o The Cloud (through its RoamPoint division), giving users access to The Cloud’s 7,000 high quality hotspot locations in the UK, Germany and Sweden.
o PT Wi-Fi, part of Portugal Telecom Group, offering Sprint customers exclusive access to over 800 WLAN hotspots in Portugal.
o FatPort, Canada’s largest wireless ISP, adds 700+ high quality hotspot locations.
o BeeNet’s Y5Zone subsidiary adds 220 hotspots at shopping centres and restaurants in Hong Kong.
o Internet Solutions provides Sprint users access to 80% of all hotspot locations in South Africa.
o AICS to give Sprint customers access at Narita airport, Tokyo, Japan.
o Orange France As Sprint customers travel globally and access the Internet, email and corporate systems, Quiconnect consolidates all the connections so that users receive one bill from Sprint, no matter how many network providers are used or countries visited.

Quiconnect is predominately making data access a commercial reality on public wireless networks today, but such services can be extended to include voice over WLAN (VoWIP) and other applications, including gaming and photographs.

Media enquiries

Tom Herbst
KDL
+44 7768 145571
Click here to request a press pack