edgewater wireless newsEDGEWATER WIRELESS WIFI3 TECHNOLOGY SELECTED FOR NATIONAL WIFI DEPLOYMENTS IN WESTERN & CENTRAL AFRICA
Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc. has entered into a $4.9-million agreement with World Affinity Telecom to supply next-generation WiFi3 technology as part of phase 1 of a multiphase program designed to deliver WiFi and wireless local area network (WLAN) coverage throughout several western and central African countries. The initial deployment will take place in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in the fall of 2012.
Edgewater Wireless's WiFi3 technology will be used to deliver broadband services and applications over WiFi and WLAN networks -- initially throughout Freetown and then extending the network across the country by the fall of 2013. Edgewater Wireless will work closely with World Affinity to define and design the network and associated product requirements for the Freetown deployment, which will include government buildings, and hospitals.
World Affinity and its local subsidiary, Sierra WiFi, are leveraging a state-of-the-art fibre network within Sierra Leone to provide services. In addition to the national deployment of WiFi3 technology in Sierra Leone, World Affinity has secured licences to deliver national WLAN coverage in a number of other western African countries, including Guinea, where the company plans expansion of a WLAN network, backboned by WiFi3 technology, by the end of 2012.
"As a former minister and ambassador to Canada for Senegal, I am strongly committed to the growth and development of our continent through the advancement of technology," said Amadou Tidiane Wone, chairman of World Affinity. "Through our partnership with Edgewater Wireless, WiFi3 brings an innovative solution, which will strengthen our communications and technology infrastructure in order to accelerate the development of our natural and human resources."
"This agreement with World Affinity represents a huge market opportunity for Edgewater Wireless to deliver broadband wireless services to western and central Africa," said Andrew Skafel, president of Edgewater Wireless. "We expect Africa to be one of the fastest-growing markets globally for WiFi over the next five to 10 years. The inherent advantages of Edgewater Wireless's WiFi3 technology are a perfect fit for the large and rapidly emerging data access markets in Africa."