Cisco Infrastructure Powers citilan, Australia's Largest Public Wireless Internet Network

Adelaide - 17 September, 2003 - Cisco Systems ® has provided networking infrastructure for "citilan", Australia's largest Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).

The citilan network will cover the Adelaide central business district and North Adelaide, providing high-speed wireless Internet access to the public. The network will provide thousands of city workers, small businesses, consumers and tourists with unprecedented access to high-speed Internet services, allowing for improved productivity and workforce mobility.

citilan has been developed by Adelaide City Council, AAA Telecommunications, Internode, AirNet, Cisco ®, m.Net and the South Australian Government.

Adelaide Lord Mayor, the Honourable Michael Harbison, today launched citilan. citilan will provide mobile wireless internet access to people using a Wireless Fidelity or 'Wifi' enabled computer or handheld PDA.

The Lord Mayor said, "citilan is really showing how we can incorporate the latest technology without compromising our heritage buildings or impacting the streetscape. The wireless LAN solution doesn't require cabling and we are using existing infrastructure such as traffic lights to act as hotspots."

Users of citilan can send and receive email or browse the Internet from their laptop or personal organisers at city cafes, shops and other public areas without plugging into a telephone line. Shoppers will also have the ability to compare prices and availability of goods and even check bank balances quickly via the network. Users will also be able to connect securely to their private corporate networks, using Virtual Private Networking technology to 'tunnel' through the public internet.

citilan will also give people in Adelaide access to a range of information about places and organisations situated at: North Terrace, Rundle Mall, Hutt Street, Melbourne Street, O'Connell Street and the Adelaide Aquatic Centre.

m.Net Corporation, Chief Executive Officer Hordern Wiltshire said, "the network is an example of successful collaboration and will open up new ways to use wireless environments."

The citilan wireless network consists of Cisco access points that use the 802.11b wireless networking standard, developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This allows for data transfer speed of up to 11 megabits per second across the wireless network. The Cisco wireless networking infrastructure is supported by Cisco Catalyst 2900 Series Catalyst ® Long Reach Ethernet (LRE) switches and other Cisco Local Area Networking equipment.

Cisco Systems regional manager, Jim Higginson said, "citilan is the latest example demonstrating Cisco's work in providing wireless communication solutions across Australia. citilan offers the broadest coverage of any single WLAN in Australia, providing ' anytime, anywhere' access to thousands of online applications."