New Service Powers “Seven Spots”, One of Japan’s Largest
Retail-based Wi-Fi Services
Mobile World Congress, Hall, 8.1, Stand F13––Aruba Networks, Inc.
(NASDAQ:ARUN), a leading provider of next-generation network access
solutions for the mobile enterprise, today announced that NTT
BroadbandPlatform, Inc. (NTTBP), a subsidiary of NTT that specializes in
wireless LAN (WLAN) and other wireless broadband businesses, has
selected Aruba’s WLAN solution as the infrastructure for its new high
quality, groundbreaking “Wi-Fi Cloud Service.” The new Wi-Fi Cloud
Service powers Seven Spots, one of the largest Wi-Fi services in Japan
provided by a retail company.
The recent explosion in smart phones and tablets and the increasing
amount of information contained on and shared by such devices is causing
a huge surge in the amount of traffic on 3G and LTE lines. Service
providers are therefore looking to Wi-Fi platforms like those from Aruba
to help offload some of this traffic and improve the overall network
environment. In addition, service providers, retailers and other
organizations can use these Wi-Fi platforms to deliver finely-tuned
content such as targeted advertisements and special programming in
locations like coffee houses, retail outlets and restaurants.
The new Wi-Fi Cloud Service uses the unlicensed 2.4GHz and 5GHz ranges
to enable “carrier-free” or carrier-agnostic high-speed communication.
This means that end users can access the service irrespective of their
wireless carrier. With the Wi-Fi Cloud Service, retail businesses,
facilities such as hospitals, travel hubs such as train stations and
airports, and even cities are able to provide their customers and
visitors with free Internet service, an area portal and targeted content
delivery.
NTTBP selected Aruba for its Wi-Fi Cloud Service because the Aruba WLAN
solution combines high-performance access points (APs) with a mobility
controller capable of unifying the management of wired and wireless
access networks. Aruba’s context-aware architecture allows highly
granular access policy management based on user, device, application or
location. This capability, combined with the ability to monitor mobile
users and devices, is what enables retailers and other organizations to
deliver profitable, value-added services such as custom advertising and
exclusive content in their facilities. Also of interest was Aruba’s
ability to greatly simplify the deployment of very large scale
distributed networks while delivering high reliability, security and
performance, and an optimized RF environment.
NTTBP’s Wi-Fi Cloud Service powers Seven Spots, a free Wi-Fi service by
Seven & i Group. Seven and i Group runs convenience stores, supermarkets
and restaurants in 16 countries and regions worldwide. The Seven Spots
service offers free high-speed Internet service as well as exclusive
content and special services at over 10,000 Seven-Eleven Japan,
Ito-Yokado, Sogo & Seibu and Denny’s locations throughout Japan. Because
Seven Spots is a carrier-agnostic service, customers that have contracts
with mobile carriers other than NTT, such as Softbank and KDDI, and
visitors from other countries, can register with Seven Spots and enjoy
the service on any on Wi-Fi device, including smartphones, tablets and
the Nintendo-DS gaming device.
The Wi-Fi Cloud Service can be used for docomo WiFi provided by NTT
DOCOMO, Inc. and FLET'S SPOT provided by NIPPON TELEGRAPH and TELEPHONE
EAST CORPORATION.
“A recent summary of NTT Group’s business plans for the next few years
details how Wi-Fi platforms will be strengthened as the ‘third access’
after fixed and mobile access,” said NTTBP President Tadao Kobayashi.
“We already have a plan to increase the number of base stations that
function as Wi-Fi spots to 120,000 by March 2013, and we expect the
Wi-Fi platform to further expand. Wi-Fi Cloud Service offers Internet
service and leads to new businesses such as content delivery platforms,
e-book distribution and the provision of collected marketing
information.”
“With overseas deployment of Wi-Fi Cloud Service as well as applications
in business, we will continue offering highly convenient network
environments generated by connecting hotspots with the traffic lines of
our daily life,” continued Kobayashi. “Aruba’s wireless infrastructure
was the only solution we evaluated that met the exacting requirements of
this innovative new service offering. Their robust, reliable and easy to
manage WLAN solutions meet our needs as well as those of our managed
services customers.”
“The Seven Spot deployment is an excellent illustration of how NTT and
Aruba make the Wi-Fi offering easy, cost-effective and valuable for
retailers like Seven and i,” said Dominic Orr, CEO of Aruba Networks.
“NTTBP installs the Aruba APs and controllers and then conducts all the
ongoing management and troubleshooting of the equipment, while Aruba’s
advanced WLAN technology enables retailers and other organizations to
offer high quality Internet access and value-added content that draws
customers into their locations.”
About Aruba Networks
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access
solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company’s Mobile Virtual
Enterprise (MOVE) architecture unifies wired and wireless network
infrastructures into one seamless access solution for corporate
headquarters, mobile business professionals, remote workers and guests.
This unified approach to access networks enables IT organizations and
users to securely address the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon,
dramatically improving productivity and lowering capital and operational
costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in
Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more,
visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter
and Facebook,
and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.
© 2012 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include the
design mark for AirWave, Aruba Networks®, Aruba
Wireless Networks®, the registered Aruba the
Mobile Edge Company logo, the registered AirWave logo, Aruba Mobility
Management System®, Mobile Edge Architecture®,
People Move. Networks Must Follow®, RFProtect®,
Green Island®. All rights reserved. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
