Spectrum Interactive plc to Migrate All Wi-Fi Services to Aptilo Networks’ Service Management Platform
Managing Wi-Fi Access, Service to More Than 950 Wireless Enabled Locations
WIRELESS ’08 – LONDON – Aptilo Networks, the global leader in integrated solutions for Service Management and Access Control for wireless networks including WiMAX™, wireless mesh and Wi-Fi hotspots, announces today that Spectrum Interactive, the leading independent public access Internet kiosk operator in the United Kingdom, will migrate its entire Wi-Fi network infrastructure – which includes wireless hotspots in some of the UK’s busiest airports, as well as Premium Inn, Travelodge and Radisson Edwardian hotels throughout the country — to the Aptilo Service Management Platform™, a solution that enables and manages Wi-Fi access and provides service control. The move will unify Spectrum’s back-end Wi-Fi systems, standardizing on the Aptilo platform.
Spectrum’s network currently encompasses more than 1,700 Internet kiosks and desks in travel and hotel venues, as well as 950 Wi-Fi hotspots mainly in hospitality and airport locations.
The migration starts immediately and will be completed by the third quarter of 2008.
“After several rounds of acquisitions we found ourselves working with four different wireless service management systems, none of which fully met our needs. Aptilo’s Service Management Platform suited us perfectly and best of all, it worked seamlessly with the wide variety of services we offer at many different types of properties,” said Mark Lewarne, Chief Executive Officer, Spectrum Interactive. “Aptilo’s scalable solution supports our growing network now and in the future. With Aptilo, we can offer our customers stability and rich features that are second to none.”
“Aptilo is leading the industry in field-proven, carrier-grade broadband access and service management solutions. Our products offer the flexibility to support customer growth and expansion, a feature critical for Spectrum Interactive,” said Paul Mikkelsen, vice president, sales, Europe/Africa, Aptilo Networks. “Aptilo is proud to be working with Spectrum, which has grown to become one of the largest operators of Internet access terminals in the UK.”
As part of the migration, Spectrum will keep existing Colubris Access Gateways and point them to the Aptilo Service Management Platform, phasing out the four wireless service management systems. The Aptilo Access Controller™, which securely communicates with the service platform and oversees access and Quality of Service control, will be used at Spectrum’s largest Wi-Fi hotspots sitting at the edge of the network infrastructure.
“Spectrum has seen significantly lower maintenance and support costs on installations powered by the Aptilo Service Management platform,” said Steve Ellis, Head of IT, Spectrum Interactive. “This migration will free internal resources significantly so we can focus on developing new services.” Daniel Gray Head of Marketing for Spectrum added, “With Aptilo’s systems we will have much better control on the user experience and features that we can offer to the site owners”.
The increased importance of foreseeable total cost of ownership was echoed by Zakaria Bennani, key account manager, Aptilo, who was responsible for the Spectrum account: “The Aptilo platform’s extremely high and proven stability increasingly have become the most important key success factors among many of our larger customers.”
The Aptilo Service Management Platform is a highly scalable carrier-grade wireless service management solution that effectively handles data and voice service delivery across multiple devices while enabling creation of new revenue-generating value-added services and supporting future network scalability in a unified platform. Aptilo’s feature-rich, comprehensive Wi-Fi service management solution encompasses authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA), portal management, service monitoring, security, statistics and customer care options.
Working with the Aptilo Service Management Platform, the Aptilo Service Portal™ is the main tool for the automatic processing and display of data output from the provided service, including storage of usage information and events, aggregated statistics and monitoring data.
About Spectrum Interactive plc
Spectrum provides Internet desks, WiFi (hotspots and fully cabled solutions), payphones and other related services to customers across the UK & Germany. The company is a market leader in the provision of public internet desks in the UK with a total of 1,900 units in service (many of these at 25 UK airports that Spectrum operates at) and, with the recently announced agreement with Travelodge, Spectrum currently operates around 900 WiFi hotspots, mostly in hotels and airports. Spectrum also owns and manages around 7,000 payphones.
Spectrum’s customers are spread across a wide range of market sectors encompassing locations as diverse as airports, hotels, hostels, military camps, universities, hospitals and other key travel locations, and its millions of regular end users benefit from a high quality, affordable and reliable services.
About Aptilo Networks
Aptilo Networks offers a comprehensive wireless service management platform designed for service providers, enterprises and municipalities needing a rapidly deployable, scalable multiservice solution to easily manage data and voice services over WiMAX, wireless mesh and WiFi networks.
From smaller initial installations up to large carrier networks, Aptilo’s cost-efficient solution for wireless service management and delivery provides a rapid time to market while flexibly supporting future network and service expansion.
Selected by premier technology partners such as Nortel, Cisco and HP, Aptilo has become a global leader and the provider of choice enabling service providers, businesses and governments to rapidly manage and deliver highly secure voice and data services in public, semi-public and private wireless access zones in more than 40 countries worldwide. Aptilo Networks is headquartered in Stockholm, with regional offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Plano, Texas. For more information, please visit www.aptilo.com.
Media Contacts:
Hillary Call, Public Relations Manager
Aptilo Networks AB
P: +1 917 414-9262
hillary.call@aptilo.com
Daniel Gray, Head of Marketing & Product
Spectrum Interactive plc
P: +44 (0) 1442 205 515
info@spectruminteractive.co.uk