SAN FRANCISCO-Pronto Networks Inc. announced the launch of its UniFi Digital Communities Grid, a nationwide municipal broadband network that connects people from city to city and serves as a platform for emergency and community services.
The company said 37 municipalities and many industry partners are part of the launch. In addition, Pronto said that it has committed about $15 million in products and services to connect about 500 municipalities to the grid during the next 18 months.
The UniFi Digital Communities Grid is based on an open, standards-based architecture that allows city employees and residents to roam onto other participating municipal networks using existing user credentials. It also serves as a platform for services like homeland security and Amber alerts, automated meter reading, traffic and pedestrian control, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition applications for water and wastewater treatment and video surveillance.
Pronto said the grid is compliant with the IP Multimedia Subsystems framework, providing a foundation for city operators to deploy integrated voice, data, video calling, IPTV and multiplayer gaming. The grid also will be enabled for advanced short message services.
“This initiative is important in bringing a common architecture for a national municipal broadband network that can deliver integrated telecommunication services,” said Jasbir Singh, president and chief executive of Pronto Networks.
Pronto Networks is a carrier-class operations support systems provider for managing large-scale Wi-Fi hot-spot and metropolitan networks.
