Cisco is introducing the industry's a carrier-grade, end-to-end Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver Next-Generation Hotspots (NGH). The company also announced that it is working with several service providers, including AT&T, BT, PCCW mobile, Portugal Telecom, Shaw Communications, Smart, and True, to deliver mobile services with a new generation of intelligent "small cell" system using licensed and unlicensed radio technology. Cisco's new Small Cell Gateway, based on the Cisco ASR 5000 Series Mobile Multimedia Core Router, will enable operators to manage subscriber and service information while integrating 2G/3G/4G LTE and femtocell (licensed) networks with Wi-Fi (unlicensed) networks, to deliver seamless experiences across multiple heterogeneous access networks. Cisco said PCCW mobile was the first operator to successfully complete a commercial trial of the Next Generation Hotspot, in Hong Kong at the end of 2011. The NGH rides on IEEE 802.11u and 802.1x specifications in conjunction with Cisco's Service Provider Wi-Fi solution. The system supports seamless international roaming on partnered Wi-Fi networks in overseas countries and provides faster Wi-Fi network discovery and selection, enabling mobile devices to logon automatically. PCCW plans a full commercial roll-out once NGH-enabled devices become available.
