Aricent Empowers TEMs by Adding Hotspot 2.0 Software Framework and Product Lifecycle Services to its Offerings

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J., Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Aricent Group, a global innovation and technology services company, today announced the addition of Hotspot 2.0 software framework and services to its field-proven communications software and solutions portfolio. The solution is available immediately.

As more smartphones with advanced capabilities are being introduced into the market, mobile operators are gradually transitioning from a mobile voice to a mobile data business model. Aricents' robust Hotspot 2.0 offering empowers telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) to monetize this industry shift by developing cutting-edge products at lower costs and decreasing time-to-market through a standards-compliant software framework. By creating solutions to support mobile operators in their strategy to offload traffic onto Wi-Fi hotspots with the same security, authentication and roaming features as with mobile networks, TEMs are in the position to help make Wi-Fi a carrier-grade technology.

"We have launched our Hotspot 2.0-compliant WLAN Switching Solution at a time when Wi-Fi is becoming complementary to 3G and LTE as one of the cornerstone technologies in the mobile Internet revolution," said Sridhar Raju, Assistant Vice President and Head of the Wireline Communications Practice at Aricent. "This offering further underscores Aricents' commitment, to the technology and to our customers, towards cost-effectively co-creating cutting-edge next-generation networks."

The WLAN Switching Solution (WSS) framework supports the Hotspot 2.0 capabilities for access points, including support for the Access Network Query Protocol (ASQP) and Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) Protocol. Additional key features of Aricents' Hotspot 2.0 implementation include:

• Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)-Enterprise and stronger authentication based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to solve security and usability issues of hotspots
• IEEE 802.11u standard-compliance
• Standards-based service discovery
• Better management and monetization of hotspots
• Seamless Wi-Fi authentication and roaming for optimal end-user experience
• Highly qualified domain expert support for WLAN silicon integration and testing for delivering the highest quality solutions

For more information on Aricent's Hotspot 2.0 solution, visit:
http://www.aricent.com/software/wireless-local-area-network-wlan.html

About the Aricent Group
The Aricent Group is a global innovation and technology services company that helps clients imagine, commercialize, and evolve products and services for the connected world. Bringing together the communications technology expertise of Aricent with the creative vision and user experience prowess of frog, the Aricent Group provides a unique portfolio of innovation capabilities that seamlessly combines consumer insights, strategy, design, software engineering, and systems integration. The client base includes communications service providers, equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, device makers, and many other Fortune 500 brands. The company's investors are Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office, Delta Partners, and The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

For more information about the Aricent Group, visit: http://www.aricent.com
Follow the Aricent Group on Twitter @Aricent: http://www.twitter.com/aricent

SOURCE Aricent Group