SUNNYVALE, CA, April 2, 2007 – Credited with pioneering “Smart Wi-Fi” technology and systems, Ruckus Wireless today announced that it has been selected by Sonaecom, Portugal’s second largest telecommunications provider, to supply its award-winning MediaFlex multimedia wireless systems for Sonaecom’s fast growing Clix SmarTV IPTV service.

Smart Wi-Fi is a ground-breaking technical advance in Wi-Fi that for the first time allows delay-sensitive traffic and services, such as digital TV and voice, to be reliably transmitted over standard 802.11 frequencies.

Launched in April of 2006, Clix SmarTV was the first IPTV service offered in Portugal. It remains the only IPTV service available to Portugal’s 3.6 million households.

With the Ruckus MediaFlex, Portuguese consumers will now be able to extend the location freedom that they enjoy with Wi-Fi technology to their television viewing experience. The Ruckus MediaFlex allows Clix and its customers to place televisions virtually anywhere within their home without running cumbersome and costly cabling to each TV.

The Ruckus MediaFlex system is based on standard 802.11g Wi-Fi that allows Sonaecom to cut installation times in half by requiring only a single installation technician to be onsite.

“The Ruckus system delivers economies of scale that lets us dramatically reduce installation times and the costs associated with those installations while allowing us to speed the rate at which IPTV installations can be performed,” said Susanna Barbato, Sonaecom’s Director of IPTV. “Our goal is to make the installation experience as quick and pleasant as possible for our customers. Smart Wi-Fi technology is enabling precisely this.”

Barbato noted that Sonaecom’s goal is to move to a self-install model where consumers can simply receive the Ruckus MediaFlex or purchase it in a retail outlet and install the system themselves. This will provide IPTV on demand and enable the installation of additional TVs quickly and easily as needed. “Self installation allows the subscriber to drive the installation process when it is convenient for them without being handcuffed by the operator.”

Longer-term Sonaecom can use the Ruckus MediaFlex system to support both IPTV and data within each subscriber’s home. Each Ruckus MediaFlex router supports multiple wireless networks each of which can be devoted to a specific service with distinct parameters and security settings.

“Sonaecom chose Ruckus Wireless because they think like their customers,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “Consumers want location freedom and instant gratification for all their multimedia content and services – all without wires. Smart Wi-Fi is the only technology that can deliver this today.”

Reaching 1.6 million homes with its national network, Sonaecom currently offers a full range of triple play services to broadband subscribers. Portugal has one of the highest penetration rates of PayTV in Southern Europe and 1.4 million broadband access lines. Sonaecom delivers IPTV over an ADSL2+ infrastructure offering broadband speeds of 12 Mbps and 24 Mbps at €29.9 and €39.9 per month respectively. For a nominal price, consumers can purchase the Ruckus MediaFlex router and adapter to support location-free IPTV.

Sonaecom offers a complete triple play bundle and a variety of IPTV packages within its Clix SmarTV brand. Clix SmarTV includes a complete lineup of MPEG-2 broadcast television, video on demand (VOD) and subscription video on demand (SVOD) with more than 100 channels and several entertainment packages including premium broadcast from Discovery Channel, Disney and movies from major Hollywood studios including Warner Bros and Buena Vista. The packages are priced from €8.9 to €34.5 per month.
What is IPTV?

IPTV is a new way of streaming real-time television programs, movies and other video content over a broadband IP network. Unlike conventional TV, IPTV requires connecting multimedia receivers (known as IP set-top boxes) to a computer network to receive video transmissions from the broadband modem or home gateway.

The proliferation of wireless and IP services has lowered traditional barriers to entry to wireline communications service provider markets. This results in ever-increasing line losses to new competitive service providers and margin erosion. To remain competitive, communications service providers face two strategic imperatives: 1) increase their services portfolio to include new broadband services like IPTV, and 2) decrease their operational expenditures to remain cost competitive.

Since most home computer networks do not extend to areas where the televisions are located, consumers have to put up with expensive and/or unsightly Ethernet cable installations. While technologies exist today to make Ethernet work over existing coaxial or electrical wiring in a home, their applicability is location dependant.

Furthermore, consumers everywhere have selected Wi-Fi as the home networking technology of choice. The Ruckus MediaFlex system is the first and only Wi-Fi system purposely designed to deliver picture-perfect video to all corners of a home by automatically steering Wi-Fi signals around interference and physical barriers. The Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system also supports simultaneous Internet browsing and voice over IP calls. Once installed, the system can connect multiple TVs and set-top boxes, as well as portable video receivers such as multimedia laptops and handheld multimedia players, without the hassles of new wiring or re-wiring.

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About Clix
Clix is the residential brand of Sonaecom, the sub-holding of the Sonae Group for the area of Telecommunications, Media and Software and Information Systems. The company plays an active role in the integrated management of the several business units that compose it, identifying and building on existing synergies and the company’s growth potential. It is the first telco in Portugal to deploy a GB-ethernet core network for supporting ultra-broadband services such as IPTV.

Sonaecom operates in three main business areas: Mobile anda Fixed Telecommunications (Optimus, Novis and Clix), Media (Público) and Software and Information Systems (WeDo, Bizdirect, Saphety and Mainroad). Sonaecom’s main goal is simple and ambitious: to become the leader in the supply of integrated telecom services in Portugal.

Sonaecom is currently one of the main communications traffic generators in Portugal. Its strategy of having its own national telecom infrastructure was born from the inherent need to guarantee the reliability and quality of its network, minimizing costs associated to traffic management. Visit the company's Web site at http://www.sonaecom.pt.

Last update: 28-07-2007