Wi-NEWS

Spectrum Interactive plc to Migrate All WiFi Services to Aptilo Networks’ Service Management Platform

Aptilo Networks, the global leader in integrated solutions for Service Management and Access Control for wireless networks including WiMAX™, wireless mesh and WiFi hotspots, announces today that Spectrum Interactive, the leading independent public access Internet kiosk operator in the United Kingdom, will migrate its entire WiFi 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 WiFi access and provides service control. The move will unify Spectrum’s back-end WiFi 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 WiFi 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 WiFi 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 of 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.”