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VIVATO POWERS COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE'S TRIUMPH OVER THE DIGITAL
DIVIDE
High-Powered Wi-Fi System Provides Wireless Internet Access to
Reservation
Spokane, WA, June 29, 2005 - Extended-range Wi-Fi technology
from Vivato is helping bridge the digital divide for the Coeur d'Alene
Tribe in northern Idaho. The tribe is installing 16 high-powered
Vivato base stations throughout the reservation, aiming to provide
broadband Internet access by the end of this summer.
"Having access to broadband technology will change our lives
as dramatically as having horses changed our ancestors' lives,"
said Valerie Fast Horse, information systems director for the Coeur
d'Alene Tribe. "Broadband technology is a necessary condition
to promote economic diversity and growth within our reservation."
Ms. Fast Horse said the tribe has built a Community Technology
Center stocked with 40 computers, which will be available for free
to tribal members who do not have computers of their own. In addition,
the tribe will provide high-speed wireless access through the Vivato
system to anyone living on or near the reservation at a price comparable
to other Internet Service Providers.
"This is a huge change for people on the reservation since
there is no broadband Internet access of any kind available to us
at this time," Ms. Fast Horse said.
Tom Jones, systems engineer for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, said the
extended-range capability of the Vivato Wi-Fi base stations was
the deciding factor in choosing Vivato. Vivato's system uses phased
array antennas and a patented PacketSteering technology to
boost coverage up to 12 times that of competing Wi-Fi systems. Jones
said a demonstration in which a Vivato base station provided coverage
to a distance of 13 miles sealed the deal. The Coeur d'Alene Reservation
covers some 345,000 acres spanning the Palouse farm country and
the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. To reach all corners of
the reservation, the tribe is installing the Vivato base stations
at four strategically-selected locations.
"Vivato is one of the most exciting things to happen in the
Wi-Fi industry," Jones said of the system's ability to extend
the 802.11g Wi-Fi frequency over large distances. "Hands down,
it blows everything else away."
Glenn Booth, marketing director for Vivato, said his company was
pleased to play an instrumental role in providing Internet access
to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. "We have seen our technology make
a difference in a wide variety of situations, from large-scale municipal
deployments such as in Spokane, WA, to public safety and campus
uses," Booth said. "But the Coeur d'Alene tribal installation
is one of the most gratifying we have been associated with, as it
will bring this reservation's communications resources into the
21st century."
About Vivato
Vivato, Inc. is a wireless systems infrastructure company with technology
that is based upon an innovative signal processing and antenna design.
Vivato's unique system architecture enables cost-effective, large-scale
indoor and outdoor wireless deployments in cities and towns, as
well as airports, seaports, warehouses, universities, enterprises
and hotels. Vivato is headquartered in Spokane, Washington. For
more information, please visit www.vivato.com
or call 509-343-6001.
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