More U.S. Rural Telcos Push the IPTV Envelope with Ruckus Wireless

From Oregon to Indiana, Wisconsin to Illinois, Smart Wi-Fi in the Home Turns America’s Heartland Phone Companies into True Pioneers

SUNNYVALE, CA, July 17, 2006 – Ruckus Wireless, an innovator in next-generation smart Wi-Fi technology, today announced that its new in-home “smart Wi-Fi” system is being adopted by more leading rural U.S. broadband providers, including:

  • ETEX Telephone Cooperative (TX)
  • Daviess-Martin Rural Telephone Corporation (IN)
  • LaValle Telephone (WI)
  • Richland Grant Telephone Cooperative (IN)
  • Canby Telcom (OR)
  • Hutchinson Telephone Company (MN)
  • Glandorf Telephone Company (OH)
  • Green Hills Telephone Company (MO)
  • Ligonier Telephone Company (IN)
  • Matanuska Telephone Association (AK)
  • Union Telephone Company (WI)
  • Viola Home Telephone Company (IL)
  • McDonough Telephone Cooperative (IL)
  • New Windsor Telephone (IL)
  • Nex-Tech, Inc. (KS)
  • Wabash Mutual Telephone (OH)

These new deals are in addition to agreements already in place with Ayersville Telephone (OH), Monroe Telephone (OR), Pioneer Telephone (OK), Wilkes Telecommunications (NC), Panhandle Telephone Cooperative (OK), and CC Communications (NV), which are also using Ruckus Wireless’ MediaFlex system to support in-home distribution of digital multimedia content and services such as IPTV.

Rural-based broadband providers are aggressively moving to deliver digital voice, video and data, or “triple play,” services to local subscribers. To solve the problem of multimedia distribution in the home, these telephone companies and cooperatives are working to use next-generation smart Wi-Fi to transport streaming IPTV and other triple play services over broadband connections coming into subscriber homes.

“We’ve worked hard to deliver a compelling IPTV service to the consumer’s doorstep but we need to ensure that our subscribers’ experience is the best it can possibly be,” said Gene de Vore, IT manager at Canby Telcom in Canby, Oregon. “We’ve found that the simplicity and flexibility of Wi-Fi is perfect for our customers but it must be reliable enough to support a production IPTV service. The Ruckus system was designed for this exact purpose.”

The Ruckus MediaFlex system is giving rural telcos around the country an easier, more efficient and cost-effective way to distribute digital content and services within the home using standard Wi-Fi. Typically carriers have been forced to completely wire residential dwellings to get multimedia content from the single broadband connection to televisions and other multimedia devices located around the home. This often requires two installers and several hours of labor. And once wired, if there are any changes or additions, installers must be repeatedly dispatched.

The Ruckus MediaFlex system reduces installation to less than one hour, eliminates cumbersome wiring and supports all media types over a single, universally-accepted technology: Wi-Fi. Adding extra TVs or connections is a simple process that doesn’t require installers or a “truck roll.” Additionally, new services can be quickly and easily enabled by the provider remotely.

“We are excited at the prospect of having a single medium in the home that can support IPTV, data and ultimately voice without wires,” said Steve Bartlett, general manager of Daviess-Martin Telephone in Montgomery, Indiana. “Until now, Wi-Fi hasn’t been up to the task. But consumers want to use Wi-Fi for all their multimedia, if they can get it, and now they can.”

Ruckus Wireless is credited with developing the first “smart Wi-Fi” technology that easily integrates with 802.11 standard Wi-Fi to reliably move digital content around the home. It helps providers better distribute new triple-play voice, video and data services throughout subscriber homes, using sophisticated directional antenna array and advanced traffic engineering mechanisms that extend Wi-Fi range and coverage, dynamically steer packets around interference and automatically prioritize traffic. The combination of these technologies ensures picture-perfect and flicker-free transmission of digital TV, voice and data services simultaneously over standard Wi-Fi, which, until now, has never been possible.

The Ruckus smart Wi-Fi system is based on patent-pending technology that selects the best path through the air at any given time for a specific type of multimedia content. It directs Wi-Fi signals over that path to a given receiver instead of broadcasting it in all directions. If, however, that path experiences interference, the Ruckus system automatically steers the traffic over another path in real time to ensure 15-20 Mbps of consistent bandwidth to every location in the home with virtually no interruption in Wi-Fi transmissions.

“We have so many customers that want to put their TVs and set top boxes in inaccessible areas of the home, that it’s become a real problem,” said Troy Nimrick, central office supervisor at New Windsor Telephone in New Windsor, Illinois. “Using Ruckus’ smart Wi-Fi to wirelessly connect to TVs anywhere in the home and be assured the same high quality video signal as if it were coming over a cable is a huge bonus for everyone. We keep installation costs and times to an absolute minimum and there is virtually no disruption to our customers’ homes. All I can say is, it’s about time.”