December 15, 2006

World’s first free, secured encrypted wireless service deployed in Evergreen

AeON Wireless, Inc. selects MegaByte Pizza for inaugural commercial wireless venue

By Bill Bellou
Times Publisher

MegaByte Pizza restaurant has deployed the world’s first fully operational secure encrypted wireless network for use by its customers at no charge.

Shaking hands, Ken Connors, managing general partner of the Canyon Creek Shopping Center and co-owner of Megabyte Pizza, and Dash Chang, founder and president of AeON Wireless Inc., celebrate the world’s first secure wireless installation at MegaByte Pizza in Silver Creek. Also pictured are (left to right) Ed Abelite, co-owner of MegaByte Pizza and the Canyon Creek Shopping Center, William Bellou, CEO/Publisher, Times Media, Inc., and Rocco Santoro, Advisory Board Member, AeON.

The restaurant was selected as the inaugural site for the AeON Wireless, Inc. installation because of general manager Aldo Montufar’s commitment to innovation and Megabyte’s high tech ambiance, which is very popular with the Evergreen community.

Located in Silver Creek at the Canyon Creek Shopping Center in San Jose, the patent-pending encryption technology service began this month at Megabyte Pizza and is expected to expand to all areas of the center next year. Additional secure, encrypted wireless sites are expected to be announced throughout Silicon Valley starting in January 2007.  

“Our shopping center serves a technically upscale community. Our new wireless service gives our community a comfortable atmosphere in which to work, meet, or relax – any time of the day,” said Ken Connors, President of CRW Development and co-and Managing General Partner of the Canyon Creek Center and Megabyte Pizza, along with Evergreen resident Ed Abelite.

“It is very fitting that the first free global secure encrypted wireless installation take place here”, said Montufar. “This restaurant is a celebration of the pioneering spirit of Silicon Valley, he said. “Our walls are decorated with portraits of many of Silicon Valley’s high tech leaders who would be impressed of what we have accomplished here.”

One of the features that set the AeON Wireless technonlogy apart from other wireless access services is its ease of use. According to Jing Wang, who worked as a senior engineer for Cisco’s Wireless Business Unit before joining AeON Wireless as VP of Engineering, “The service is very easy to use. For instance, compared to Google’s service - where you have to download software that is only supported by Windows, not Apple, PDA’s or Linux – AeON’s solution is based on a user-created key that connects to the encrypted service. Google only offers a partial solution.”

Once the user has logged on, the system recognizes the user by their machine ID, eliminating the need to re-key the code. This streamlined system allows greater user support and user friendliness in addition to the benefits of secure, encrypted wireless access.

Partnering with Megabyte and AeON Wireless, Inc is Times Media, Inc. (the parent company of the Evergreen Times). The collective goal of the three entities is to offer accessible venues for AeON, and the AeONsafe network that will deliver local news through the new technology platform. Users at Megabyte, as well as other locations throughout the Bay Area will have easy access to relevant community news and advertising.

In the near future, Times Media, Inc. and AeON Wireless, Inc. plan to announce a cooperative venture focused on the implementation and growth of a free, secure encrypted wireless network throughout Silicon Valley and the United States.  

Patent-pending encryption technology from AeON Wireless, Inc.
The AeONsafe technology platform provides users with their own unique key for encrypting the wireless access – replacing the shared key or unsecured modes currently available at public wireless hotspots like Starbucks or McDonald’s. AeONsafe will also be available to its users completely free of charge.

“AeON has the solution to the unsecured wireless problem,” said Dash Chang, CEO of AeON, who headed a team at MIT, which developed XSIM for commercial use. “Society is burdened with too many worries,” he added. “We think the relaxed use of wireless at public venues should be safe and simple, and now we need to get the word out that this new technology exists.”

Aldo Montufar, general manager of MegaByte Pizza Restaurant, said that from a laptop he can manage the customers’ access to the wireless network for peak hours with AeON’s patent-pending encryption technology service.

The trend toward public wireless access has been growing. Nationally, more than 50 million people use laptops, and more than half of the laptop users visit public hotspot locations at least once a month, according to a study by Ipsos Insight, a marketing research company.

“Nagging problems such as unsecured access has unfortunately slowed and limited user’s willingness to try wireless at public venues,” said Rocco Santoro, Advisory Board Member for AeON. “Secured services will allow more users the freedom to use wireless anywhere. Similarly, unmanaged services have slowed venues from providing services.” he
added.

“We wanted to provide wireless access, but we’re concerned about customers’ access to limited tables at peak hours,” said Connors. AeON is the only company that offers a remote management option providing peak-hour wireless access controls custom-tailored to the client’s needs.

Other retailers agree. AeON will have two regional chains and the Cupertino city government offices have agreed to install the AeONsafe network in 2007. In addition, AT&T has agreed to provide compensation to AeON for each broadband installation, according to Santoro.

Local News delivery via wiCasting™ technology
“People enjoy the opportunity to get away, pick up a newspaper and relax,” explains Santoro. “We think delivering community news and member content on an encrypted, secure network along with a nice lunch is the perfect combination in establishing loyal members in the wireless community.”

Sandy Bellou, CFO for Times Media, Inc. agreed.

“Several years ago we envisioned the ability to instantly deliver news to readers in our seven newspaper communities,” said Bellou. “The AeON technology allows our newspapers to grow and prosper by delivering the news via a controlled network delivery system,” she added. “In addition, we can deliver local, regional, and national advertising geographically and demographically. We call our new news delivery technology wiCasting™.” 

“Times Media, Inc. is an innovator and embraces new technology,” said Chang. Times Media was the first newspaper in the Bay Area to publish online in 1993, the first local publisher to print direct to plate using digital technology, and they were the first to publish high resolution full color community newspapers in the US. They’re the perfect partner to help grow our secured network,” said Chang. “We are excited about our new working relationship with the Times.”

The trend to work, play, and meet in community areas is growing – and with it the increased need for secure wireless access. In recent years, wireless networks at college campuses have become a required feature. With more than 1,000 campuses in the US offering wireless in their classrooms, security and network authentication has become the number one concern of educators, according to EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association promoting the use of information technology in higher education.   

AeON executives believe they can convert more than 70 percent of the 100 million unsecured wireless users in the U.S. to the AeONsafe network, and at the same time create 58,000 new commercial and non-profit venues within the next two years.

The types of sites that will be contacted for inclusion in the wireless network include coffee shops, auto dealers, restaurants, bookstores, libraries, universities, and city, state and federal government installations, to name a few. According to Chang, the beta installations are attracting 200-250 users per week. He believes this will attract a substantial number of local, regional, and national advertisers. 

“Millions of homes, hotspots, and city installed wireless networks are unsecured,” said Chang.  “The question is why industry suppliers did not see the need to provide secure encrypted wireless technology for public venues.”

Proposed legislation
A new proposal being considered by a suburb of New York City would require any business or home office with an open wireless connection with no separate server to fend off Internet attacks would be violating the law. The proposal would fine individuals and businesses up to $500 per infraction.

The draft proposal offered last month would compel all “commercial businesses” with open wireless access points to have a “network gateway server” outfitted with a software or hardware firewall. The proposal echoes a slew of bills in Congress and in state legislatures that are being considered in the wake of security problems associated with the banking industry.

“There’s a new breed of retail owners and operators discovering the attraction of wireless technology,” said Santoro. By providing wireless access with their coffee, food, drink, or dessert experience - they gain loyal customers who eat, drink, meet, and work at their favorite location. This core community - directly or indirectly by inviting friends, family, and associates - account for the majority of an establishment’s revenues.