technologies to citizens and visitors of the Gangneung City and Gyeongpo Beach areas, the second largest tourist beach in Korea. Deployed by Korea’s largest service provider, KT Corporation, the “Gangneung U-Blue City” (Ubiquitous Blue City) project uses technology from Firetide Inc., a leading developer of wireless mesh and access networks, to enable both a city-wide sensor network for emergency preparedness and free Internet access for tourists visiting the beach area.

Gangneung is the economic center of Korea’s Yeongdong region and has a population of more than 225,000 over an area of approximately 400 square miles. It is a popular national tourist destination known for being the only location with easy access both to the Sea of Japan and Gangneung’s lake. Historical buildings – including the ancient Ojukheon shrine and the Gyongpodae, a legendary pavilion that overlooks the lake – add to the draw of tourists seeking contact with ancient history.

“Bringing the beach online provides an added incentive for city visitors who can use the network to learn about the city and its many attractions. Having access to the data gathered from video cameras and weather sensors also helps Gangneung be more proactive in ensuring the safety of its citizens,” said Hyung-Kuen Ryu, Ph.D., project manager of KT Future Technology Laboratory's Next Generation Internet Research Division. “Introducing Firetide wireless mesh along the coastline was the most feasible solution, especially considering the time and money involved in deploying an equivalent wired network.”

The beach installation is just one addition to what is now a significant wireless network zone in and around Gangneung City, which includes 21 Firetide HotPort® mesh nodes and 8 HotPoint® access points. Altogether, the network, which took five months to complete, comprises one large Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN) using IPv6 that provides city residents and visitors with quick and reliable access to online sports, weather, disaster prevention and other information. According to Ryu, “Firetide easily met all our requirements and has an outstanding reputation with KT Corporation as the best solution for USN interoperability.”

To ensure the success of wireless mesh projects of any size, planning is critical. The KT Corporation had a clear view of its needs from the start. Stability and performance were important, considering the wide area of deployment. In addition, the network needed to provide:

• Support for IPv6,
• Reliable connectivity in diverse geographical areas, from city to beach,
• Hassle-free installation, and
• Intuitive management interface.

“Firetide’s fully distributed wireless mesh technologies are particularly well suited for the types of challenges the KT Corporation was facing in Gangneung, from reliability to performance,” said Bo Larsson, chief executive officer of Firetide. “Dispersed geographic areas and heavily trafficked sites such as the beach at Gyeongpo require cost efficiency and no disruptions to the public, which are not possible with current wired networks. We are pleased to partner with KT Corporation on this project and look forward to working together in the future.”

About Firetide Inc.

Firetide is a leading provider of wireless mesh and access networks that enable concurrent video, voice, and data for municipal, public safety, and enterprise applications. Firetide HotPort® mesh nodes, HotPoint® access points, HotClient™ CPEs, HotView Controller™, and HotView Pro™ network management platform provide a reliable high performance wireless infrastructure and access solution for video surveillance, Internet access, public safety networks and temporary networks wherever rapid deployment, mobility and ease of installation are required. Headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif., Firetide is a privately held company with worldwide product distribution.

About KT Corporation

The KT Corporation (formerly Korea Telecom) is Korea's leading telephone service provider with nationwide coverage for fixed-line communication networks and over 20 million subscribers. KT became a high-speed Internet provider in 1999. KT established itself as one of the world's best broadband service providers, with five million subscribers as of 2003. KT launched Commercial WiBro (Wireless Broadband) service in Korea in June.2006.

Information Source:    Business Wire

Image courtesy of www.gangneung.gangwon.kr