Fixed Wireless Equipment

Rockstar Goes Mobile

The developer of ISP system software (now called Aramova) thinks the future for all Internet access—not just Wi-Fi based—is with the aggregators.

by Gerry Blackwell of Wi-Fi Planet [September 7, 2004]

The ISP system software developer formerly known as Rockstar (now known as Aramova) is betting that the future of Internet access will be all about providers offering aggregated, multi-mode network services—and that wireless will be king.

"We believe the kind of freedom of access that wireless provides may ultimately revolutionize the Internet—just as mobile handsets revolutionized the public switched telephone network," Szalay says.

Subscribers to multi-mode services may use fixed line when they're in the home or office, mobile wireless when they're not and Wi-Fi whenever they're in range of a hotspot and need high speed—anytime, anywhere access.

Retail service providers will offer subscribers aggregated coverage from multiple wholesalers—as indeed iPass, Boingo Wireless, Trustive in Europe and others are already doing. Both models present service providers with formidable technical and marketing challenges.

Aramova, previously a provider of triple-A software for wireline providers, recently launched a new client-server Intelligent Access Management solution it says will help enable the new-style multi-mode providers and wireless network aggregators.

The company's first sales of the product were to Netherlands-based Picopoint, which runs the GBIA Wi-Fi network aggregation service, and KPN, the former Dutch PTT which operates multiple wireless and fixed-line data access networks. Aramova will announce a second Wi-Fi aggregator customer in the next few weeks, says CEO Peter Szalay.

KPN is a prime example of the kind of provider Aramova is targeting. It will use the Intelligent Access Management solution to manage Internet access for subscribers via its UMTS (European 3G mobile), GPRS, fixed line and Wi-Fi access networks.

The Aramova solution can't do automatic, seamless hand-offs between different wireless networks—yet. It's "working in that direction," Szalay says. It does, however, incorporate network sniffing technology. It can tell a subscriber using a mobile network if he's wandered into a Wi-Fi coverage area and help him reconnect via Wi-Fi without having to log on again.

That's just one of several unique features Szalay says clearly differentiates the Aramova solution in the market. It is mostly competing with products that address the need to manage one or two network access methods at most—from companies such as Diginext, PCTEL, and Alice Systems. The Aramova solution can manage many, he says.

Other key benefits the Intelligent Access Management solution delivers according to Aramova:

• It helps service providers grow their wireless business by enabling a better experience for subscribers - by automating log-on and online account activation, for example.
  
  
• It also provides dynamic assistance with identifying, locating and logging on to available wireless access points and cells
  
  
• Its client-resident component provides a consistent unified interface for working with a variety of network applications and access modes.
  
  
• And it offers service providers a messaging tool for "reaching out and touching" subscribers, whether they're logged on or not.

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