STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 25, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Aptilo Networks has signed a contract with the U.K. wireless Internet provider Netario, which plans to establish public WLAN networks - hotspots - throughout the U.K. The first of these will open in Manchester in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games sports event that opens today, July 25.
Initially, Aptilo will be responsible for both the technology and the network operation. In the long term, Netario will operate the networks under a license agreement. The WLAN market was just recently deregulated in the U.K., which was also the last country in Europe to open the frequency for the unlicensed WLAN radio technology (802.11b). The U.K. is therefore an important market for Aptilo and the contract with Netario is proof that the company has a competitive solution.
"We believe that there is a pent-up need for wireless Internet services here in the U.K.," said Philip Coen, CEO of Netario, the recently established wireless Internet provider. "During the autumn, we intend to establish public WLAN networks in as many as a hundred different locations throughout the country. Such a rapid build-out would not be possible without Aptilo's solution, which enables scalability in a simple and cost-effective manner and is also an easily managed and technically sophisticated system."
During the Commonwealth Games, the public will be able to receive results and other information about the competitions directly to their laptops or handhelds via the wireless network.
Aptilo, which was voted Newcomer of the Year at this spring's Mobile Gala in Stockholm, has achieved major success in a short period of time with its hotspot technology. Following the Netario order, Aptilo's system solution and WLAN networks are being used in nine countries outside Sweden.
Using Aptilo's solution, individual hotels and conference centers or large Internet providers, for example, can easily offer wireless Internet connections with WLAN technology without users being tied to a subscription. Aptilo's solution supports several different payment methods and also enables local net services.
About Aptilo Networks
Aptilo Networks develops and provides system solutions to operators of unlicensed wireless networks, such as WLAN (802.11) and Bluetooth, and provide hot-spot services to local area owners. The company is Stockholm- based, with a regional office for Asia-Pacific in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Aptilo was founded as a spin off from the Mobile Internet division of Axis Communications. Aptilo's suite of solutions offers operators a convenient and effective way to integrate access points in an advanced wireless public hot spot environments. It enables payment via service subscription, credit cards, by integration with mobile operators to pay with mobile phone subscriptions and also other payment enablers such as iPASS/GRIC and other customer bases. More information about Aptilo Networks can be found on the web at: www.aptilo.com
Read more about Netario at: www.netario.comRead more about The Commonwealth Games at: www.commonwealthgames.com
For further information please contact:
Torbjorn Ward, CEO Aptilo Networks, phone: +46 733-22 46 08; e-mail: torbjorn.ward@aptilo.com Paul Mikkelsen, VP Marketing, Aptilo Networks, phone: + 46 709-31 69 46, e-mail: paul.mikkelsen@aptilo.com Philip Coen, CEO, Netario, phone: +44 (0)7976 611 246, e-mail: philip.coen@netario.com
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