City of Bologna Launches RoamAD Metro Wi-Fi Network

The historic centre of Bologna, Italy has become home to Europe's most advanced metro Wi-Fi network.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand—June 7, 2006—RoamAD, the leading supplier of carrier-grade, converged wireless networks, today announced that the Municipality of Bologna has launched a RoamAD-based municipal Wi-Fi network that is providing free Internet access to citizens of Bologna as well as to students and faculty of the University of Bologna.

The Iperbole Wireless network was deployed by HI-TEL Italia, a RoamAD VAR/SI partner, in conjunction with a local ISP, Acantho, with the support of Laboratori G. Marconi, the City of Bologna, and the University of Bologna.

"The Iperbole Wireless project is the first of its kind to cover the historic centre of a major Italian city" said Dr. Giuseppe Pariolo, Deputy Mayor and Bologna City Manager for Communication and ICT.

"Bologna is home to Europe's first university and is also the place where Marconi invented the radio. It is therefore fitting that Bologna should now be home to the most advanced high-speed wireless network in Europe," said Patrick Scarlata, President, HI-TEL Italia."

RoamAD's platform for converged wireless networks consistently ranks ahead of its competitors in terms of technical functionality, flexibility and upgradeability.

"The network represents a model for an efficient municipality like Bologna to evaluate a number of technologically advanced services and to offer its citizens and students mobility, video security and VoIP," said Professor Gabriele Falciasecca of the University of Bologna and the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation.

"Bologna has taken the lead in Italy by deploying a highly functional wireless network. Today it supports both fixed and mobile broadband Internet access as well as mobile VoIP yet it is also upgradeable to WiMAX," said Martyn Levy, CEO, RoamAD. "The network is geared towards convergence and the future," added Levy.

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See also:

• HI-TEL website
• Iperbole Wireless
• Bologna Wi-Fi deployment video
• RoamAD Interview with Gianni Meloni of HiTel Italia
• Presentation by Giuseppe Paruolo, Deputy Mayor for Communication and ICT, City of Bologna

About RoamAD

RoamAD™ supplies carrier-grade converged wireless networks that are unmatched in flexibility, technical functionality and economics. RoamAD multi-technology networks are remotely upgradeable and optimized to support mobile broadband data and mobile VoIP/VoWiFi. RoamAD's radio-agnostic, software-based platform operates on XScale-based multi-radio nodes that are comprised of readily-available modular hardware components assembled in accordance with RoamAD's published hardware assembly guide.

RoamAD is a trademark of RoamAD Holdings Limited. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holder(s). For more information see www.roamad.com.

About HI-TEL

HI-TEL is one of the leading European manufacturers of telecommunications equipment for incumbent telcos, with a worldwide commercial footprint. In addition to its complete offering of corded and DECT phones well known for their innovative design, HI-TEL's international brand awareness is certainly due to its revolutionary PSTN Videophone, designed and manufactured for Telecom Italia. In 2003, HI-TEL was the first company in Italy to demonstrate, with the Graffignano project, how Wi-Fi could be used to narrow the digital divide for towns and areas lacking broadband connections. For more information visit www.hitel.it.

RoamAD Contacts:

Martyn Levy, CEO
martyn.levy@roamad.com
Skype: martynlevy
+1-310-601-8314
+64-21-836-887

HI-TEL Contacts:

Gianni Meloni, Business Development Manager
Email: g.meloni@hitel.it
Skype: giannimeloni
Office: +39-349-620-6809

www.hitel.it