Swisscom uses US vendor Colubris for Wi-Fi build

Colubris Networks is expected to announce later today a multiyear, multimillion-dollar Wi-Fi equipment deal with Swisscom.

Under the deal, Colubris will provide wireless local area network (WLAN) access equipment to the carrier's Swisscom Eurospot subsidiary, the largest pan-European hotspot provider of wireless high-speed internet access in public areas. Hotspot companies typically target business travellers with service in venues such as hotels, train stations and airports.

"It's a huge deal. It's probably worth $5m to $6m," said Abner Germanow, a wireless LAN analyst at research firm IDC. "You don't do deals this big without running into the big players like Cisco or Proxim."

Colubris executives declined to discuss the terms of the deal, other than to note that it places Swisscom among the vendor's top 10 customer accounts.

Although the deal was struck back in September, and Colubris has already installed more than 12,000 Wi-Fi networking devices in Swisscom Eurospot hotspots, the company did not want to publicly disclose the deal until it had passed the 10,000 unit shipment milestone, Colubris CEO Barry Fougere said.

Colubris' public access CN3000 controller devices are used in the more than 1,900 hotspots Swisscom Eurospot operates in Belgium France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. The device is designed to improve Wi-Fi coverage for Swisscom's wireless LAN equipment in larger hotspots.

"A businessperson who is moving through Europe with a cell phone wants it to work seamlessly, no matter which country they are in. Eurospot wants to do the same thing with hotspots," Fougere said.

Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com.