AWA and Firetide Create Wireless Surveillance for Spanish Town

LOS GATOS, Calif., Oct. 31, 2006 -- Firetide Inc., a leading developer of wireless multi-service mesh networks, and AWA, the largest Spanish operator of Wireless LANs, today announced a successful wireless video surveillance deployment in the city of Peñíscola, Spain. The Mediterranean city is using Firetide’s HotPort mesh network to enable network surveillance cameras to operate wirelessly for remote monitoring of suspicious activity during busy tourist seasons. With the new system, police officials can monitor more locations to minimize vandalism, pilfering and congestion without adding more police officers or overburdening the municipal budget.

“As with many tourist destinations, security is imperative to assure that people have a good visit and will return to our city,” said Police Inspector Jose Antonio Soriano. “Our goal was to incorporate a non-intrusive technology that allowed us to effectively increase our police presence without the need to hire seasonal and inexperienced staff for more patrols. Firetide’s secure wireless solution met both our needs to preserve our town’s charm and extend our monitoring capabilities to keep travelers and our citizens safe.”

Firetide’s mesh provides public safety officials the ability to monitor multiple locations around the clock from a central monitoring station. Consequently, adding additional officers for surveillance work was no longer required during the tourist season, saving time and money for the police department. The wireless mesh infrastructure also eliminated the need for the city to install expensive and unsightly video cabling for the cameras.

Firetide’s partner AWA, a wireless telecommunications provider in Mexico and Spain, referred Peñíscola police officials to Firetide after conducting positive tests for reliability and performance in other cities. Santiago Arenos, chief technical officer for AWA said: “Firetide exceeded our expectations for security, performance and usability. The mesh network automatically forms and heals itself so it is very easy to install and extremely reliable. And because the mesh can operate around large obstacles or inside moving vehicles, we can install our cameras in locations that other wireless solutions cannot reach.”

For its wireless mesh network, the Peñíscola police department acquired four Firetide 3103 HotPort Wireless Mesh nodes, two network video cameras, and one sector wireless antenna to provide more distance between nodes. The main node was installed atop the tallest building in town to provide full coverage for the city. One of the nodes connects the mesh to the department’s secure network. The city uses Firetide’s HotView Pro software to manage the mesh network and mesh nodes.

“We are seeing a growing global demand for secure and robust wireless networks for video surveillance as well as other networked applications,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. “With our ability to deliver high bandwidth and mobility with very low latency or delays, Firetide’s wireless mesh networks are a reliable choice for cities that need video, voice as well as public safety communications and public Internet access. Our network is also very scalable, so the city of Peñíscola can easily add more services and coverage at any time without disrupting or replacing their existing network.”

Firetide products are sold through channel partners including distributors, value added resellers (VARs), and systems integrators.

Firetide is a leading provider of multi-service mesh networks that enable concurrent video, voice, and data for municipal, public safety, and enterprise applications. Firetide HotPort mesh nodes and HotPoint access points provide a secure, high performance wireless infrastructure and access solution for video surveillance, Internet access, public safety networks, and temporary networks wherever rapid deployment, mobility, and easy of installation are required. The company's patented AutoMesh flow-based routing protocol optimizes network performance and capacity for high bandwidth and latency sensitive applications. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Firetide is a privately held company with worldwide product distribution. For more information, visit www.firetide.com.

AWA is a privately held wireless company, founded in 2000. AWA started its activities as an I+D company, receiving several awards and acknowledgments for its ability in the application of wireless technology in different fields including the integration of the first WI-FI vehicle (a pilot project with FIAT and CHRYSLER). Today AWA is situated in Spain and Mexico, focusing its activity as a wireless telecommunications operator, offering Internet access in rural areas through the brand INTERNETRURAL and in public zones (hotspots) as AKIWIFI. AWA is also certified by the vendors Meru and Firetide. For more information visit the company’s websites www.awacenter.com and www.akiwifi.com.