Press Releases
The Cloud launches Metro WiFi business and acquires Hotspot Amsterdam
25th September 2006
London, 25 September, 2006 - European metro WiFi took a step forward today with the announcement that The Cloud, Europe’s leading operator of inclusive, multiple service provider WiFi networks, has formed a dedicated business unit to manage its rapidly growing metro WiFi business. In addition, The Cloud also announced the acquisition of Dutch operator Hotspot Amsterdam, furthering the company’s leadership in metro WiFi. The acquisition and the foundation of this new business demonstrate The Cloud’s commitment to providing open networks for cities for the widest possible range of services, applications and devices. The announcement comes at a time when The Cloud’s hotzones deployments and forthcoming network across the City of London are setting the precedent for city public and private WiFi network deployments across Europe.
Hotspot Amsterdam operates The Netherlands’ only city WiFi network with coverage across Amsterdam that provides services to visitors, residents and Amsterdam’s large ex-pat and student communities. The Amsterdam network is a mesh deployment that supports seamless mobility within the coverage area, currently two square kilometres. Amsterdam is the first European city network to become part of The Cloud, joining the City of London network across the Square Mile and 12 live hot zones around the UK, including Manchester, Edinburgh and Canary Wharf.
Amsterdam’s residents and visitors, like the City of London and the other cities where The Cloud provides metro network services, will benefit from an inclusive, multiple service provider infrastructure that delivers access to the widest possible range of applications and services - from providers including Skype, Vonage, O2, Nintendo, BT, Vodafone Germany, Telenor and iPass. This differs from models where city WiFi networks operate services limited to a single operator or service provider, and where access to new services like VoIP, content and business applications are limited or blocked.
Metro WiFi networks are changing the face of towns and cities around the world for both public access and public sector applications. These high capacity network infrastructures allow city workers and individuals with WiFi-enabled devices to access the internet in the street, in offices and in open spaces. The Cloud’s unique, open network model and ability to deliver access to a wide range of applications including high speed Internet access, remote access to enterprise systems, entertainment services and VoIP applications mean that cities are able to facilitate the most comprehensive service for their citizens from the widest possible range of service providers.
Partnering with The Cloud provides cities with the opportunity to maximise the wireless infrastructure for more than public WiFi access alone. The Cloud supports public sector applications for security and city management, and facilitates community access to broadband services. City workers are able to use the network to work more efficiently, accessing private network services securely from anywhere within the designated coverage area. Supported public sector city applications include CCTV surveillance and asset monitoring for parking meters and traffic lights.
The Cloud’s metro networks are designed to scale for coverage and extreme capacity demands, and are built to the highest security standards with stringent SLAs guaranteeing high levels of service availability.
Hotspot Amsterdam’s experienced management team have joined The Cloud, with Ben van Dongen becoming Managing Director for Metro WiFi. Ben has significant experience in the telecoms and WiFi industries and was CEO of PicoPoint between 2002 and 2005.
Commenting on the new business, The Cloud CEO George Polk said: “The need to provide high quality services while meeting ever more stringent efficiency targets have driven numerous cities around the world to deploy WiFi technology. We entered the city WiFi market last year deploying nine ‘light’ networks across the UK, followed shortly afterwards by the announcement of a dense metro WiFi network in the City of London. Today, we are delighted to further extend our strong position with the acquisition of Hotspot Amsterdam. The Cloud is experienced at working across many markets in Europe and has a proven track record in delivering robust, shared WiFi networks that are capable of supporting the full range of user experiences and meeting diverse private requirements.”
Ben van Dongen, Managing Director of The Cloud’s Metro WiFi business added: “My experience of European WiFi demonstrated that The Cloud’s unique, open model would bring significant benefits to the city of Amsterdam. Cities all over Europe can benefit from metro WiFi networks as they not only increase efficiency of city services but also improve or maintain their social and economic competitiveness. Furthermore, metro WiFi can help cities address digital inclusion issues by increasing access to broadband internet services for both urban and suburban communities.”
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The Cloud will be attending the W2i Digital Cities Congress at Olympia on 25th & 26th September. Come and see us on stand 18.
http://www.w2idigitalcitiesconvention.com/09252006/
About The Cloud
The Cloud offers sophisticated national wireless LAN coverage in hotspot and hotzone locations throughout the UK, Sweden and Germany. The Cloud's infrastructure is a multi-service provider platform, which allows providers such as ISPs, mobile operators, gaming, VOIP and broadband companies to offer a fully branded wireless LAN experience to their customers. With The Cloud, site owners maximise their revenue potential by supporting all major service providers at their location and customers enjoy the best possible experience and maximum ease of use.
Launched in mid 2003, The Cloud actively partners with Vonage, O2, BT, Vodafone, Skype, iPass, Nintendo and Intel, among others, to facilitate the growth of wireless broadband services across Europe. The Cloud's investors include 3i IT Provider and Accel Partners, Europe. The Cloud was recently nominated as a Technology Pioneer at The World Economic Forum and as a Red Herring Top 100 Company.