(11/04/04)

Metro Toronto Convention Centre Wins 2004 Management & Industry Commitment Award

MTCC’s Wireless LAN Cited for Innovation and Advancement of Industry

TORONTO, ONTARIO — November 4, 2004— The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) today announced that it has received the 2004 Management & Industry Commitment Award at the Telemanagement Live conference and exhibition.

The award recognizes telecom management colleagues and companies whose innovation, talents and dedication have helped promote professionalism and advancement of the industry. The MTCC won the award in the “Wireless Project of the Year” category after being nominated by its supplier partner, Massachusetts-based Chantry Networks.

“It’s a great honour for us to win this prestigious award and to receive such strong industry affirmation of our decision to go with this wireless LAN infrastructure,” said Bill McDonald, MTCC Director of Technology Services. “We recognized from the start that Chantry had a very exciting, leading edge solution to our wireless telecommunications and IT needs. This truly is next generation communication technology, and it’s giving our staff and customers outstanding wireless access and VoIP capability. ”

The MTCC unveiled its new wireless local area network (WLAN) in January 2004. This unique application of wireless networking technology made the MTTC the world’s first convention centre to offer leading edge “routed” wireless capability to convention organizers and attendees. “The MTCC and its forward-thinking telecommunications staff have done an excellent job leveraging advanced WLAN technology for greater customer service,” said Peter N. Vicars, Chantry President and CEO.

The MTCC’s new WLAN is currently providing seamless wireless service to over 1,000 simultaneous mobile users. These users enjoy roaming high speed Internet access at up to 54 Mbps, which is close to 1,000 times faster than conventional dial-up Internet access speeds. This installation won a Silver Star Award in the 2004 Mobile Star Awards recently as well.

Last month, the MTCC also launched wireless Voice over Internet Protocol, its latest advanced technology addition to its wireless capabilities. Commonly known as “wireless VoIP”, this application involved the deployment of more than 100 new Wi-Fi based wireless telephones throughout the facility. The IP handsets are used by MTCC staff and are also available as rentals to visiting clients’ event and show management staff.

The MTCC, in collaboration with Chantry Networks, came up with this innovative new wireless solution designed specifically for large convention centre use. Demand for wireless connectivity has exploded over the past year from both convention attendees and organizers eager to use their new wireless enabled laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), McDonald explained.

“Our customers have diverse data networking and wireless expectations, and our goal is to meet or exceed these expectations,” he added. Chantry is the industry leading provider of secure integrated mobility management solutions for wireless networks.

Unlike most current wireless LANs, which are based on older technology, the MTCC’s wireless service will not be subject to fading. In these older networks, when a user “roams”, walking from one access point to another as is typically the case at large conventions and shows, the wireless connection can be lost. The user is required to re-connect and re-authenticate each time, which can be quite frustrating and time consuming. The MTCC’s new WLAN solution is ideally suited to the MTCC’s clients and its exhibition and convention space, which has a huge physical area to cover. The wireless service will be virtually guaranteed anywhere in the building.

About the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC)

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada’s #1 trade and convention facility, and one of the finest in North America. With more than 2 million square feet of state-of-the-art space, it is considered a world-class, tier-one facility.