"We conducted an RFP process, and the winner both in terms of depth of experience and quality of technology was Siemens," said David Dobbin, President, Toronto Hydro Telecom. "Siemens has global expertise in wireless technology, and their proposal was based on leading-edge third-generation wireless technology that more than meets our criteria for reliability, speed and scalability. That’s exactly what a world-class city such as Toronto needs in order to steer a course to greater competitiveness and productivity."

The agreement with Toronto Hydro Telecom includes the use of a mesh Wi-Fi network that will provide coverage for an area of up to ten square kilometres and it is anticipated that it will be fully deployed in downtown Toronto by year-end 2006. End-users will be able to access the Internet from wireless-enabled laptop computers, mobile headsets and other mobile devices, or simply place VoIP phone calls. High transfer rates (up to 54 megabits per second) will mean shorter download times and faster surfing than what is currently available today.

"We are extremely pleased that we have now succeeded in entering the Canadian wireless communication market with our technology. The kind of network we’ll be building for Toronto Hydro Telecom is right in line with the trend today, especially in urban areas. It will offer our customer ideal prerequisites for entering the attractive market of mobile services business with relatively low capital investments," noted Christoph Caselitz, the President of the Mobile Networks Division at Siemens Communications.

As part of its deployment strategy, Toronto Hydro Telecom will use Siemens’ "Wireless Integration@vantage" wireless integration platform which provides features such as access control, authentication and accounting. The software for this platform was developed by Garderos Software Innovations, a wholly-owned Siemens subsidiary. The network nodes are from the "Siemens Mesh@vantage MR" product family, based on industry-leading wireless mesh technology from BelAir Networks.

"BelAir Networks is proud that our industry-leading wireless mesh technology has been chosen by Siemens and Toronto Hydro Telecom for North America’s largest municipal wireless network," said Bernard Herscovich, President and CEO, BelAir Networks.

Source: WebWire