The deployment took less than 2 months and covers the city center, promenade, harbor, surrounding camp areas and provides wireless Internet access to all tourists, residents and businesses. The success of the pilot project resulted in the decision to put this network permanently in place to guarantee the enduring availability over the entire city. Even more, similar networks are under construction in other cities, municipalities and private domains across Europe. Tim Coucke recently joined as sales director supporting the further growth of the company.
Citymesh was recently recognized by the IWT ("Institute for innovation via Science and Technique") for its innovative contributions to the Flemish region. The city-wide wireless network is the vision of Fientje Moerman, the vice-minister president of the Flemish Government, and Flemish Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade. The city-wide network is also part of a larger strategy to make timely any-time access to the Internet and business resources available over the entire Flemish region.
In the first phase of the deployment, Strix Access/One OWS products provide city-wide coverage connecting any standard Wi-Fi capable laptop, dual mode cellular/GSM/Wi-Fi phone, PDA or other device without the need for extra hardware or complicated installation. This enables the user to gain 24/7 access from anywhere in and around the city for such purposes as business critical, municipal and public safety-related applications including a new wireless tracking service called "project kidwatch", which traces the current location of children at the beach and around the city. Another example includes mobile and stationary advertising on video LCD-TV displays placed in the city whereby the content is managed through the mesh network.
"With Strix Access/One products we immediately realized there were no network or performance limitations," said Mitch De Geest, CEO of Citymesh, "we were able to achieve a city-wide network, accomplish many applications that we initially thought would not be possible and we are still planning for more."
The second phase of the network will interconnect other cities to the Blankenberge mesh network and enable video surveillance, telephony, audio distribution, parking control, security and sensor networks etc., taking full advantage of Strix Access/One product line including the Indoor Wireless System for indoor/outdoor business applications and the high-power Edge Wireless System (EWS) for residential users requiring greater reach and higher performance.
"Citymesh's Blankenberge deployment is an excellent example for Europe, with a great deal of customer opportunity and the innovative thinking that drives users to their network," said Matt Holdrege, director of international strategic sales for Strix Systems. "Strix Access/One performance and reliability makes a wide range of consumer, commercial and government applications possible and Citymesh is at the forefront of those applications."
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Photo of Blankenberge Pier by Sampont. Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.
