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Below is an excerpt from a really interesting press release from Ruckus that not only endorses the quality of their product but is a great example of how, with limited cellular spectrum, the growth in wireless mobile devices is creating a huge demand for high quality ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage:


KDDI and Ruckus Wireless Debut the World’s Largest Mobile Data Offload Network and First Nationwide Wi-Fi Access Service in Japan

New KDDI “au Wi-Fi SPOT Service” to Give Subscribers “Instant On, No-Touch Access” at over 100,000 Hotspots Planned Throughout Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN and SUNNYVALE, CA, July 5, 2011 –Ruckus Wireless™ (Ruckus) today announced that it has been selected by KDDI Corporation, Japan’s principle telecommunications provider, to supply advanced Wi-Fi products for the world’s first and largest “instant on” Wi-Fi access and mobile data offload service.  

With over 32 million mobile subscribers, KDDI is leveraging advanced carrier Wi-Fi technology, pioneered by Ruckus Wireless, to offload mobile data traffic from its cellular network while providing subscribers with seamless, high-speed wireless access throughout Japan.

Subscribers of KDDI’s packet flat rate plans can now use the new KDDI “au Wi-Fi SPOT” service free of charge with their au Android smartphones in over 10,000 locations initially, scaling to 100,000 locations by March 2012. With no tedious, manual configuration of the phone, KDDI subscribers can automatically access and be authenticated to KDDI au Wi-Fi hotspots using credentials embedded within each phone over highly secured and encrypted connections.

“Wi-Fi is clearly at the top of the list for service providers around the world looking for new ways to increase cellular capacity,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “KDDI has taken a truly innovative approach to building a heterogeneous network that combines macro cellular technology, femtocells, WiMAX and Wi-Fi to address the exponential growth of wireless data traffic.”

Lo noted that innovative service providers face a number of issues as they look to support the aggressive smart phone rollouts. Legacy macro-cell architectures cannot provide density of coverage for today’s demanded applications such as access to rich media and social media networks. This translates into evolved network requirements that include:

•\tvarying traffic demands and traffic mix,
•\tconstantly changing RF environments,
•\tcapacity limitations driving smaller cell deployments,
•\tchallenges in providing indoor coverage and
•\tdifficulties in acquiring sites where equipment can be installed.

With Wi-Fi embedded in virtually every mobile Internet device, common hotspot services have become an important component of effective coverage for today’s service providers worldwide that offer smartphones. Wi-Fi hotspots are a quick and cost-effective way for mobile operators to inject wireless capacity in areas of high usage, thereby alleviating the pressures on 3G/4G infrastructures caused by the explosion of mobile Internet data traffic.  

“Dramatic changes in customer behaviour and the related growth in mobile data traffic from the use of smart phones are having a profound impact on user expectations, service delivery and network infrastructure build-out,” said Tadashi Egawa, head of KDDI’s Service Development and Wi-Fi Business Strategy Department.  

The largest mobile data offloading service on record, KDDI’s new Wi-Fi overlay leverages its national WiMAX network to backhaul data traffic from each Wi-Fi hotspot to KDDI’s mobile network core.  Each Ruckus ZoneFlex™ Wi-Fi access point (AP) connects wirelessly to KDDI’s WiMAX infrastructure – speeding deployment times and service availability, cutting operational expense and eliminating the need to provision fixed broadband access lines at each location.


Building the World’s Largest Mobile Data Offload Service

KDDI’s initial focus is offloading data traffic indoors. For its first phase, KDDI is deploying more than 10,000 Ruckus ZoneFlex 7363 and 7341 dual-band 802.11 indoor access points in venues throughout Japan. A WiMAX router connected to each ZoneFlex 7300 via a USB port allows Wi-Fi traffic to be automatically backhauled over KDDI’s national WiMAX network. KDDI is using Ruckus controller and network management systems to centrally manage ZoneFlex APs, and the Ruckus FlexMaster Wi-Fi system management platform to provide statistical traffic analysis, reporting and troubleshooting on a national scale.  

“We selected Ruckus products and technologies because they not only outperformed competitive alternatives but were specifically designed to be easily managed and scaled to support service provider infrastructures such as ours,” said Egawa. “Ruckus Wi-Fi technology is delivering much better coverage, interference mitigation and deployment flexibility that we couldn’t find in any other supplier and at a cost point that enables nationwide deployment. They meet our needs and specifications for carrier grade equipment.”