THOUSAND OAKS, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 2, 2012) - Xirrus®, the leader in high-performance wireless networks, today announced it is standing by to provide a number of its Wi-Fi Rapid Deployment Kits (RDK) to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in response to the wireless network collapse during the Olympic men's cycling road race on July 29. The service disruption resulted when spectators, accessing data services on their smartphones, used up so much network capacity that it disrupted the transmission of performance and timing information being sent over the network from monitoring devices on the riders' bikes.
"It's a real shame that technology was the cause of this issue at an event of this stature," said Xirrus CEO Shane Buckley. "It is unfair that a number of athletes did not have their positions accurately recorded due to performance issues on the wireless network. These athletes have spent years preparing for the greatest race of their lives. It isn't practical to ask spectators to stop using their smartphones and therefore, Xirrus is willing to help by offering our Rapid Deployment Kits to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games to alleviate any future wireless issues during the Games."
When it comes to high-stakes events like London 2012, where thousands of bandwidth-hungry attendees congregate, Xirrus is more than qualified to provide wired-like performance through its Wireless Arrays.
"London 2012 is proving to be the benchmark for the effective provision of wireless communications with live streaming, Twitter, and Facebook in constant use by athletes and the public alike, and some 26,000 members of the world's media basing themselves in the Capital. With Holland Heineken House acquiring a winning reputation, it is high on the media 'must cover' agenda, and so all those onsite rely on the support of Xirrus' wireless performance. This impressive service has been temporarily implemented at Alexandra Palace for this event at a time when we as a venue are evolving rapidly. Consequently, we are considering taking this technical relationship forward to ensure that all our clients and commercial partners, events and public audience, enjoy a well-connected future using a Xirrus high-performance Wi-Fi network," said Emma Dagnes, commercial director, Alexandra Palace Trading Ltd.
In addition, just last month Xirrus announced the successful deployment of Xirrus Arrays across the Tour de France 2012 in cooperation with French telecom operator, Orange. Xirrus delivered wired-like capacity and bandwidth to support the thousands of media and event staff -- utilizing cameras, laptops, smartphones, and tablets to access and share real-time race statistics, standings, and media footage -- across all 21 stages of the historic race.
Xirrus also regularly provides the Wi-Fi network for such prestigious events as Interop Las Vegas and New York, Salesforce's Dreamforce conference, and the South by Southwest convention in Texas -- all large scale events with total attendance in the hundreds of thousands of users. Furthermore, Xirrus is such a proven and reliable solution that the United States Marines uses Xirrus to provide network access for more than 74,000 troops in Marine Forces Pacific.
How it Works
The Xirrus Rapid Deployment Kit (RDK) enables the setup of a mobile wireless network in combination with a Xirrus Wireless Array in a matter of minutes. The RDK includes a tripod stand, mounting hardware, protective covers, data cables, and a quick start guide -- all packed in two rugged carrying cases for easy mobility. The combination of a Xirrus Wireless Array and the RDK provides a robust temporary Wi-Fi connectivity solution, supporting voice, video, and data access across a large area -- well suited to support meetings, conferences, expositions, festivals, and disaster situations.
About Xirrus, Inc.
Xirrus is the leading provider of high-performance wireless networks. Xirrus' Array-based solutions perform under the most demanding circumstances with wired-like reliability and superior security. The Xirrus wireless solutions provide a vital strategic business and IT infrastructure advantage to the education, healthcare, government and enterprise industries that depend on wireless to operate business-critical applications. Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA, Xirrus is a privately held company that designs and manufactures its products and solutions in the USA. For more information please visit: www.xirrus.com and follow us on Twitter: @Xirrus.
Xirrus and XR-Series are trademarks or registered trademarks of Xirrus. Other trade names used in this document are or may be the property of their respective owners.