Marriott Gaylord Opryland Resort
& Convention Center


Marriott hotels tend to get in trouble with its traffic management practices. Back in 2012, they used their Wi-Fi service to insert ads into guests sessions (see "Marriott Uses DPI to Insert Ads to its Guests" - here and "Marriott (on DPI Ad Insertion): ".. we didn't know .. everybody does it.. it is disabled now"" - here).

Now,

Pierre Nanterme CEO, Accenture & 

Michel Combes CEO, Alcatel_Lucent


Accenture and Alcatel-Lucent announced that they have "formed a strategic alliance to help communications service providers (CSPs) and large enterprises implement integrated ultra-broadband solutions to address the challenges of rising costs and increased data consumption caused by high demand from digital customers and

A year ago the Israeli Ministry of Communications decided that MNOs will not be allowed to offer Wi-Fi offloading in public areas (see "Israel: MNOs won’t Offload to Wi-Fi" - here).

This has changed today, and the Ministry announced (here, Hebrew) that any organization may offer such services, in any location (private or public). Some municipalities, such as Tel Aviv, are offering free Wi-Fi

 
Ruckus Wireless announced a "major initiative with the City and County of San Francisco, the City of San José, CA and Global Reach Technology to create the first large-scale municipal Hotspot 2.0 service that allows millions of visitors and residents to automatically and securely connect to and seamlessly roam using San José and San Francisco free Wi-Fi services. The new Hotspot 2.0 service is

Mavenir Systems announced the "availability of its Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG). For subscribers using Wi-Fi, the ePDG provides a secure connection to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and enables seamless mobility between LTE and Wi-Fi.

Mavenir’s ePDG allows subscribers to maintain constant access to high-speed data and voice services whether they are in LTE coverage areas or

Ruckus Wireless unveiled the "industry’s first carrier-class virtualized wireless LAN (WLAN) controller, the Ruckus virtual SmartCell™ Gateway (vSCG), designed to streamline the creation of highly scalable and resilient cloud-based wireless LAN (WLAN) services .. designed for use with Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi ZoneFlex™ access points (APs), the Ruckus vSCG runs as a virtual application within either the

A patent application by Cisco Technology (a subsidiary of Cisco Systems for patents and trademarks) for classification of traffic for application-aware policies was published.



Inventors are Chandrasekaran Balachander, Nalamalapu Kasi, and Nayak Seema;

Abstract


In one embodiment, a method includes performing stateful application classification on packets received at a controller and

A new report by Marina Lu [pictured], Research Analyst, ABI Research finds that "Worldwide Wi-Fi deployments reached a total of 4.2 million hotspots in 2013, and will continue to grow at a CAGR of 15.0% between 2013 and 2018, to exceed 10.5 million .. The number includes Wi-Fi hotspots deployed by mobile and fixed-line carriers as well as third party operators .. Wi-Fi helps to offload 3G/4G

  
A survey by Richard Webb, directing analyst for mobile backhaul and small cells, Infonetics Research finds that "Carrier WiFi deployments are evolving to deliver the same quality of experience as mobile and fixed-line broadband service environments, and this is driving WiFi networks to become more closely integrated. 


Hotspot 2.0, a key tool developed by the industry to aid this drive,

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), announced that "Consumers will soon enjoy easier access to all Wireless@SG hotspots, when a new automatic login feature kicks in from April 1. 

Dubbed EAP-SIM (RFC), this new SIM card-based login feature offers users an "always on" experience by allowing them to automatically connect to any Wireless@SG hotspot using a supported device

Devicescape announced that "Virgin Media has signed a contract for the supply of their Wi-Fi service platform, underpinned by the company’s Curated Virtual Network (CVN). Users will benefit from greater connectivity to Wi-Fi hotspots when they’re on the go. Devicescape forecasts its CVN network will reach 1.1 million locations in the UK by 2017.

Devicescape are contracted to supply Virgin Media

Elitecore Technologies announced that its "SMP [see "Elitecore Helps Operators Monetize Wi-Fi (w/Location, Analytics and Revenue Generator)" - here] has been deployed by O-Zone Networks, to fulfill its vision of becoming India’s largest Wi-Fi operator. Elitecore SMP will help in delivering seamless connectivity and rich user experience across nationwide hotspots at affordable prices. O-Zone

   
A new report by Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and carrier WiFi, Infonetics Research finds that "Over the 5 years from 2013 to 2017, operators will spend a cumulative $8.5 billion on carrier WiFi equipment, led by mobile operators using carrier WiFi for data offload. This strong growth will gain additional impetus from the proliferation of small cells with integrated WiFi over

Ruckus Wireless announced "launch of Ruckus SmartCell™ Insight, the first carrier-class Wi-Fi analytics platform capable of archiving years of historical operational data that can be generated by up to hundreds of thousands of Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi access points and millions of client Wi-Fi sessions on mobile network operator (MNO) and large enterprise Wi-Fi networks .. Available starting in Q1