| City of Aurora Selects SkyPilot Networks and MetroFi |
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MARCH 16
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Second Largest City in Illinois to Provide Free Wireless Public Internet Access and Public Safety Services
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SkyPilot Networks, the leading provider of carrier-class broadband wireless mesh networks, and MetroFi, the leader in designing, building and operating citywide Wi-Fi networks, today announced the City of Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois, has selected SkyPilot and MetroFi to build out the first city-wide Wi-Fi network in the state of Illinois. The mixed-use network will provide free public Internet access within the City of Aurora as well as new public works and public safety services that will deliver dramatic cost savings reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars annually over existing wireless services.
"This is a landmark public/private partnership between the City of Aurora, SkyPilot Networks and MetroFi," said Aurora's Mayor Thomas Weisner. "Not only are we going to provide a free wireless Internet access service to all members of the Aurora community that costs the city and taxpayers absolutely nothing, we're going to dramatically improve the security, operational efficiency and productivity of our public works and public safety departments as well. We've been well aware of the successful municipal Wi-Fi deployments that SkyPilot and MetroFi have delivered for the cities of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale - all in the heart of Silicon Valley - which made their selection as providers of our soon-to-be-deployed municipal Wi-Fi network such an easy one."
The City of Aurora, spanning 42 square miles with a population of approximately 170,000, will be deploying a carrier-class mesh network for public safety and municipal wireless based on SkyPilot products. As a result of the significant coverage area provided by the SkyPilot network, Aurora's public works field personnel and first responders will have greatly expanded access to wireless network services to facilitate more responsive voice and data communications.
According to Tony Hylton, technology consultant to the mayor of Aurora, "Current models forecast improved productivity among city field personnel utilizing the SkyPilot network since it will enable them to greatly improve data communications in real time from remote sites. Another advantage of the SkyPilot mesh backhaul capability, beyond expanded coverage areas, is the ability to route traffic around obstructions, maintain fault tolerance with failover routing and segment network traffic for optimal load balancing. We believe our municipal Wi-Fi network will become the standard by which other cities in the country will model themselves after. The technological advantages the city of Aurora achieves with this relationship are considerable. We help narrow the `Digital Divide' in our community while satisfying the security and public safety standards our community requires. All of this is accomplished with a public private partnership that costs the city and taxpayers nothing. This is a tremendous win for the citizens and businesses of Aurora."
Once Aurora's new Wi-Fi service goes live, anyone with a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, laptop or handheld computer will be able to receive a high-performance link to the Internet. Users will connect to the Internet via SkyPilot's SkyExtender DualBand, a high-capacity mesh backhaul device with an integrated wireless access point mounted at strategic points within the Aurora city limits. This free, advertising-sponsored Wi-Fi service will be delivered throughout Aurora by network operator MetroFi.
"Aurora represents the fourth municipal Wi-Fi network that we've collaborated on with MetroFi," said SkyPilot CEO Bob Machlin. "It's fitting that Aurora, nicknamed the 'City of Lights' for being first in the United States to publicly light its streets, is first again in the state of Illinois to adopt a Wi-Fi network that will enhance the quality of life for its community. Given the proposed scope of Aurora's Wi-Fi network, this is another significant validation of SkyPilot's market leadership in municipal Wi-Fi mesh networking."
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