Navini Networks and Introweb deploy commercial wireless broadband in the Netherlands - Network Deployments - Brief Article

Mobile Internet, The, March, 2003

In a contract deal initially exceeding more than US$20 million, Navini Networks Inc. and IntroWeb have teamed up to commercially deploy one of Europe's largest and first non-line-of-site (NLOS) wireless broadband networks. The companies will initially target customers in Holland and other parts of the Netherlands and plan to expand the offering to other areas served by IntroWeb in the next year. IntroWeb selected Navini's Ripwave system for deployment offering customers multi-megabit network speeds, a zero-install plug-and-play modem, and untethered broadband access anywhere in the coverage area. The always-on system provides uninterrupted broadband access to an area that has been historically under served by other broadband technologies.

IntroWeb will initially offer high-speed data services to primarily residential customers who live in townships of 2,000-10,000 people and also to small-to-medium sized businesses in Holland. The first deployment, in Losser, Holland, a town of approximately 4,000 residents which had no broadband access previously, enabled users to do everything from accessing the Internet at multi-megabit speeds, download streaming videos and more. Over the course of the next year, IntroWeb will deploy at least 70 Ripwave base stations throughout eastern and northern Holland, delivering high-speed Internet access. Three systems have already been deployed in eastern Holland with multiple other towns to be rolled out and ramped up quickly. IntroWeb is strategically aligned with an outside installation, commissioning and support company to provide propagation studies as well as site acquisition and tower selection.