BelAir Unwires Galt

KANATA, Ontario -- Residents in the city of Galt, California, now have an inexpensive, high-quality alternative to DSL or high-speed cable Internet, thanks to a broadband wireless network from BelAir Networks and Softcom.

Softcom, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the Sacramento county area was looking for a way to offer high-speed, residential Internet access that would compete with offerings from local DSL and cable operators. It turned to BelAir, the first company to offer scalable wide-area wireless broadband for metro-scale deployments. Together, the two companies have designed a city-wide broadband wireless network that can provide comparable broadband access at a fraction of the cost of traditional high-speed Internet connections.

Built on wireless mesh networking equipment from BelAir, phase I of the Galt network covers more than 4,000 residential homes over 4 square miles using 45 BelAir wide area wireless mesh nodes - a combination of BelAir200 Wireless Multi-service Switch Routers and BelAir100 Wireless Multi-service Nodes. Market response to the new service has been overwhelming. More than 1,000 users are pre-subscribed to the network. More than half of the network is live now and the entire network will be on line in July.

“The BelAir solution has given Softcom a way to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market by offering our customers more bandwidth for less,” said Kevin Triplett, president, Softcom Internet Communications, Inc. “The BelAir network delivers the high bandwidth needed to handle multiple broadband applications and networks, and because of it’s modular approach and scalability, we can grow the network to include additional applications. In fact, we are in discussions with the mayor’s office to offer wireless support for emergency services in future rollouts.”

To create the wireless network, Softcom offered select homeowners a significant discount in their monthly broadband access fees in exchange for permission to install the BelAir hardware on their rooftops.

Now subscribers with wireless-enabled laptops and notebooks can access the Internet using their high-speed wireless connection anywhere in Galt. Future phases of the implementation will include providing a private and secure portion of the network for use by Galt emergency services and mobile city workers.

“We are excited to be working with a company as innovative as Softcom in its approach to creating more value for customers of wireless broadband. With the Galt network, Softcom has illustrated that well-architected wireless networks can compete effectively with DSL and broadband services,” said Phil Belanger, Vice President of Marketing for BelAir Networks. “Softcom’s creative approach to offering wireless service to customers in Galt exemplifies the kind of next generation wireless broadband solutions that will define future networks.”

BelAir Networks Inc.