SAN JOSE and SUNNYVALE, CA – June 4, 2014 – Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) today announced the expansion of its partnership with the City of San José with the extension of the Ruckus-powered Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network throughout Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) and the San José McEnery Convention Center.
Now millions of travelers and visitors to San José have free and pervasive Wi-Fi access to the popular Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi service offered by the City of San José. These two new extensions of the network are creating a “connected vision” of providing visitors with a single, reliable, free, high-performance public Wi-Fi network throughout these three key, heavily trafficked indoor and outdoor public areas of San José. The Convention Center’s free Wi-Fi begins July 1, 2014.
The massive Wi-Fi upgrade throughout all terminals within the Mineta San José International Airport included the installation of new, high-speed Ruckus ZoneFlex™ Smart Wi-Fi access points (APs) that extend the range and speeds of wireless connections, along with blazingly fast gigabit fiber broadband connections into the facility and the elimination of advertisements over the free Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi service.
The new indoor wireless network at SJC, powered by Ruckus-patented Smart Wi-Fi technology, delivers up to a four-fold increase in speed, and more pervasive Wi-Fi coverage over the airport’s legacy Wi-Fi system.
“People in and traveling to Silicon Valley are among the most technically sophisticated in the world, with an expectation for super fast and highly reliable Wi-Fi,” said Vijay Sammeta, CIO, City of San José, which owns and operates Mineta San José International Airport. “With the infrastructure changes we’ve made at the airport, customers are experiencing dramatically faster speeds. On the new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system, we’ve seen top download speeds of 60Mbps compared with 14Mbps on our previous Wi-Fi system. For most people, that’s better than what they have at home—and we’re now able to provide that Wickedly Fast experience at Silicon Valley’s Airport.”
The new, next-generation public Wi-Fi network that incorporates 58 high-capacity Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi access points at Mineta San José International Airport offers twice the coverage of the old system, and is capable of supporting thousands of concurrent users transmitting hundreds of terabytes of traffic.
At the San José McEnery Convention Center, over 225 high capacity Ruckus ZoneFlex indoor access points have been deployed. These APs incorporate the company’s patented BeamFlex™ technology to increase the range, reliability, and performance of wireless connections, using advanced radio frequency techniques that deliver unmatched improvements in Wi-Fi performance, signal gain, and reception to ensure consistent performance and high data rates.
The extension of its Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network service is a key part of the City of San José’s long-term vision of enhancing its vibrant community, and encouraging businesses and consumers to come together to better enjoy San José’s innovative technology heritage.
“As the Capital of Silicon Valley, we are pleased to expand our Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network to our airport and newly-renovated convention center,” Mayor Chuck Reed said. “These two facilities are key drivers of economic activity, and equipping them with the most advanced wireless technologies available will greatly aid their ongoing efforts to attract new business. I’d like to thank Ruckus Wireless and SmartWAVE Technologies for their continued partnership to deploy this cutting-edge technology at a minimal cost to the City of San José.”
Out with the Old, In with the New
The Ruckus-powered Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network, designed, installed, and managed by SmartWAVE Technologies, one of the nation’s leading wireless network integrators, replaces older Wi-Fi networks previously installed to provide free public access throughout the City’s airport and convention center.
“Our previous Wi-Fi network served its purpose but was based on older technology,” said Sammeta. According to Sammeta, the airport needed to address three key issues: 1) high capacity demand from the relentless proliferation of more smart mobile devices, 2) spotty signal coverage, and 3) erratic performance. “Ruckus brought to the table unique technology specifically designed to deal with these issues.”
With a reliable and high-speed Wi-Fi network now in place at Mineta San José International Airport, airport officials can now consider a range of new applications, such as connecting digital information kiosks, new mobile applications for facility maintenance, and an overall improved traveler experience.
Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi was selected by Mineta San José International Airport because it overcomes the physical and technical challenges of bringing high-speed access to environments with high-capacity coverage requirements where many users are trying to access the network simultaneously.
Further expansion of the City of San José’s free, Ruckus-powered Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network into the newly renovated San José McEnery Convention Center creates a “Wickedly Fast” user experience between the airport, convention center, and downtown core for business travelers and visitors to San José.
“Providing free, Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi throughout our convention center incentivizes businesses and organizations from across the country to hold their events here,” added Sammeta.
“Conventions and exhibitions are an extremely competitive business, and we believe offering not just free, but proven, high-performance, reliable Wi-Fi will attract more business to the convention center which, in turn, will help us generate more revenue for both the city and businesses across downtown.”
Located in the heart of San José’s downtown core at the corner of W. San Carlos and S. Market Streets, the City has recently completed an extensive renovation and expansion of its Convention Center. Following a $130M investment, 169,000 square feet have been added for a total of 550,000 square feet of convention space, including a new 35,110 square foot Grand Ballroom, plus a revamped Executive Ballroom, more flexible meeting configurations, an outdoor plaza, and additional meeting and networking spaces. Ruckus-powered Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi is the perfect complement to serve the thousands of visitors using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets during various conventions and exhibitions held throughout the year.
“We’re extremely proud to be an integral part of this expansion of San José’s Wickedly Fast Wi-Fi network,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “We are seeing a huge resurgence around the country and the world for more reliable public and managed Wi-Fi services for business to satisfy an exploding population of users now armed with multiple smart devices. These carrier-class Wi-Fi networks are becoming instrumental for offloading mobile data traffic from cellular networks and giving users a much more satisfying online experience.”
ABOUT MINETA SAN JOSÉ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) is Silicon Valley’s airport, a self-supporting enterprise owned and operated by the City of San José. SJC served 8.8 million passengers in 2013, a 5.9 percent increase year-over-year, and was the second fastest growing medium hub airport in the US. SJC offers approximately 130 daily flights on 12 domestic and international carriers to 29 nonstop destinations.
SJC’s five-star customer service experience sets it apart from other Bay Area and US airports. Airlines and passengers respond positively to SJC’s customer amenities, including modern terminal buildings, free and fast Wi-Fi, comfortable seating with built-in power outlets, a luxurious VIP lounge that is open to all travelers and a rental car center conveniently located across from the terminals. Silicon Valley’s airport is located in San José, California’s third largest city and the nation’s tenth largest city. SJC facts can be found here. For more airport information, visit www.flysanjose.com.
BeamFlex, Ruckus, Ruckus Wireless, and ZoneFlex are trademarks of Ruckus Wireless, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product or company names may be trademarks of their respective owners.