Strix Systems Tapped for Deployment of First Wireless Mesh Network in Greece

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Strix Systems, the leader in high-performance wireless mesh networking, today announced that the municipality of Galatsi is using Strix’s Access/One® Outdoor Wireless System (OWS) to deploy the first wireless mesh network in Greece. Galatsi will provide fee-based broadband services to residents and businesses, free Internet access to students, and free Internet access and VoIP service for municipal employees. BGM Ltd., a wireless networking company based in Galatsi, has tested and deployed the Strix system, which covers an area of 4 sq. km. in the city center.

“We are extremely satisfied with the performance, flexibility, and cost of Strix products. They simply work – and work well”

In fall of 2006, BGM deployed the first phase of the network. Due to the topology of the region, Strix OWS 2400 Series and OWS 3600 Series are particularly well suited to provide coverage over long distances and around buildings, hills, valleys, and forested areas. Galatsi is densely populated with 50,000 people, adding to the difficulty of providing wireless coverage in the city center and outlying areas. However, the combination of Strix’s high power output, directional and sectorization techniques, and Strix Dynamic Mesh Architecture™ (DMA™), which optimizes mesh networks, maximizes coverage areas to a radius of 300 to 400 meters.

The network’s primary high-speed connection in the city center enables high throughput in all nodes in the network; Strix Access/One nodes can achieve throughput of over 100 Mbps. The OWS 3600 Series nodes act as the central nodes for the network while the OWS 2400 nodes are mounted on buildings around the municipality.

BGM implemented the first phase as a test network, providing free Internet access to all citizens in the coverage area. The company is now in its second phase of deployment and will continue to expand coverage as needed for Galatsi’s public places, including the Olympic athletic center (home of the 2004 Olympics’ gymnastic events), parks, schools, the four main routes in the city, city hall, and the business district.

“We are extremely satisfied with the performance, flexibility, and cost of Strix products. They simply work – and work well,” said Theofanis Roussas, general manager of BGM Ltd. “Strix’s system has enabled us to not only offer public and secured access with QoS for the municipality, but also gives us the performance to offer VoIP over the wireless network. We are testing VoIP SIP servers and various dual mode phones, and we are also beginning tests on IP-based video surveillance cameras and surveillance servers, which will be connected to the Strix network for several security applications.”

Municipal employees will be able to easily access data from their laptops wherever they are, which will save time and free them from wirelines in their offices. Municipal police can use VoIP and video over the network to connect to the central office. The Strix network will also provide Galatsi with an independent network for emergency communications.

“This deployment shows that Strix’s OWS can provide wireless coverage even in dense urban areas where it can be difficult to establish good line-of-sight,” said Jim Mooreland, vice president of worldwide sales at Strix. “The municipality of Galatsi has a real understanding of the value a wireless mesh network can bring to all constituents of a community—businesses, residents, and the municipality itself.”

MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT

KEY WORDS

Galatsi, Greece, BGM Ltd, Wireless mesh networking, real-time mobile communications, mobile VoIP, video surveillance, multi-service wireless network, high-speed wireless access, wireless mesh, wireless mesh networks, wireless mesh manufacture, wireless mesh architecture, wireless mesh equipment, mesh wireless, mesh wireless network, mesh wireless network equipment, mesh network, wifi mesh, mesh wifi, outdoor wireless, outdoor wireless networks, outdoor mesh networks, outdoor mesh wireless, mesh wireless technology, wireless mesh technology, multi radio, multi-radio architecture, multi-radio wireless mesh, multi-radio mesh, municipal wireless, municipal networks, municipal mesh networks, metropolitan wireless, metropolitan networks, metropolitan mesh networks, metro mesh, broadband wireless equipment, wireless broadband equipment, wireless backhaul, cellular backhaul, public safety networks, mobility, roaming, wireless networking solution, city-wide wireless, wireless network equipment, country-wide wireless.

About Strix OWS and IWS

The Strix Access/One OWS and IWS modular mesh products deliver the largest capacity (up to six radios and 768 users per node, three to six times the norm), highest throughput (five times the norm at 35 Mbps), and best scalability (users can add more radio boards or new technologies). An independent wireless mesh test, sponsored by Light Reading and completed in June 2006, found Strix’s OWS 2400-30 delivers the best throughput and capacity and the greatest scalability for voice applications and mobility/roaming. Strix networks scale to 10 or more wireless hops with near-zero throughput loss and latency, enabling customers to deliver real-time applications with a minimum of wired connections for a given area, which reduces CapEx and OpEx.

About Strix Systems

Strix Systems is the worldwide leader in wireless mesh networking. Strix’s Access/One products are the industry’s only modular (chassis-based) mesh systems, delivering the largest capacity, highest throughput and best scalability. This new generation of products provides the broadband mobility and reach to support voice, video, and data applications. Sold globally by a network of first-class distributors and integrators, Access/One solutions have been deployed in hundreds of networks worldwide, outdoor and indoor, for service providers, metros, public safety, government, energy, transportation, hospitality, education, enterprises, and residential markets. For more information about Strix Systems, please visit www.strixsystems.com.

About BGM Ltd.

BGM provides the technical expertise, technology, design and execution for large-scale network infrastructures and modern tools, processes and techniques and services to deliver highly specialized telecommunications and management services to small, medium and large enterprise. For more information http://www.bgmnet.com.

NOTE: Strix Systems and Access/One Network are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States and certain other countries, of Strix Systems. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.