Kineto Enhances Smart Wi-Fi Application for use in Public Wi-Fi Networks

Milpitas, Calif., December 21, 2011

Kineto Wireless, the key innovator and leading supplier of Smart Wi-Fi solutions for mobile operators, today announced it has added new capabilities to its Smart Wi-Fi Application that enhance the end user service experience when connected to public Wi-Fi networks, or hotspots.

Smart Wi-Fi is an application provided by mobile operators to their subscribers that enables all mobile services (e.g. voice, SMS, MMS, RCS-e,…) to be delivered over existing Wi-Fi networks.  To date, operators have focused the use of Smart Wi-Fi on private Wi-Fi networks, such as those at subscriber homes and offices, as a way to address indoor coverage challenges as well as offload their macro network.

However, many mobile operators are now looking to also leverage public Wi-Fi networks to realize additional offload and performance benefits.  According to the Wireless Broadband Alliance, 47% of mobile operators surveyed believed further adoption of public Wi-Fi was “either very important or crucial” and that the number of public Wi-Fi access points could increase more than 400% to 5.8 units worldwide by 2015.

In response to this demand, Kineto has added capabilities that improve the Smart Wi-Fi user experience when subscribers connect to public Wi-Fi networks.   These new features include:

• Smart Connect – Frustrated smartphone users have learned the hard way that simply attaching to a Wi-Fi hotspot doesn’t necessarily mean they are given Internet access.  Quite often, public Wi-Fi networks require additional log-on steps before providing full data connectivity.   To address this challenge, Kineto has added a Smart Connect feature that assists users with accessing hotspots when additional log-on information is required.
   
• Smart Offload –  Subscriber usage of public Wi-Fi networks is very different to usage of private Wi-Fi networks.  For example, subscribers typically stay connected to home and office Wi-Fi networks for many hours at a time, while time spent connected to any given public network can be very brief.  Performance of public and private Wi-Fi can also vary widely.  Private Wi-Fi networks typically deliver very good and consistent performance, while public hotspot performance may not be as predictable.
  
  To address these differences, Kineto has added Smart Offload capabilities that enable selective service offloading to specific Wi-Fi networks based on operator policy and subscriber preference.  For example, a subscriber may choose to have all their services (e.g. voice, SMS, MMS, RCS-e, Internet,…) automatically offloaded to their home and office Wi-Fi network, but be asked what services they want offloaded each time they connect to a new public Wi-Fi network (e.g. all services, or just Internet access).

“To date, Kineto’s Smart Wi-Fi application has enabled mobile operators and subscribers to fully benefit from private Wi-Fi deployment at home and office,” said Ken Kolderup, chief marketing officer for Kineto. “With these new features, operators can now leverage Smart Wi-Fi to enhance the public Wi-Fi strategy as well.”

Smart Wi-Fi is available from leading mobile operators around the world, and the Smart Wi-Fi application is available for Android-based smartphones from leading handset manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Huawei and ZTE.

About Kineto Wireless, Inc.
Kineto Wireless is the key innovator and leading supplier of Smart Wi-Fi solutions for mobile operators. The company's solutions enable mobile operators to turn more than 200 million existing public and private Wi-Fi access points into seamless extensions of their mobile networks. With Smart Wi-Fi, subscribers can receive all their mobile services over Wi-Fi instead of the macro network, boosting indoor coverage and improving the mobile data experience, while securely offloading the mobile network. The company's Smart Wi-Fi products and services, based on the 3GPP GAN standard, have been deployed by mobile operators around the world. Kineto customers and partners include HTC, Huawei, LG Electronics, Motorola, Orange, RIM, Rogers Wireless, SFR, Samsung, T-Mobile and ZTE.

For more information, please visit kineto.com, and follow Kineto at twitter.com/kinetowireless.