May 2008

Dear Tropos Friends,

I took the reigns at Tropos as its new president and CEO in January, and am very excited about having joined a high-growth company such as Tropos -- a company that pioneered the outdoor wireless broadband market and has clearly demonstrated its market and technology leadership. Dell ‘Oro Group recently again named Tropos the market leader in 2007 for outdoor wireless mesh networks.

Municipal outdoor wireless broadband networks are alive and well. I am pleased to share with you that Tropos experienced 40% year-over-year growth in the municipal market alone in 2007. We see this demand momentum continuing from domestic and international customers. Almost daily I hear about exciting new ways in which our customers use Tropos networks to cost effectively improve the ways in which they work, live and play. Some of the more common customer applications are:

  • Automated metering infrastructures – reducing utility operating costs, improving billing accuracy and conservation efforts.
  • Mobile public safety – improving efficiencies of police, fire, EMS while reducing emergency response times.
  • Fixed and mobile video surveillance – expanded monitoring coverage without adding people, temporary tactical deployments to monitor specific areas or events. We’re also seeing increased use video analytics for intelligent detection and alerting on specific types of activities.
  • Intelligent transportation systems – improving traffic flow, reducing vehicle emissions and on-time pubic transportation.
  • Industrial – improving business process and efficiencies plus video security in venues where ruggedized, reliable communications is crucial such as manufacturing plants, factories, warehouses, shipping ports and construction sites.
  • Commercial – public access, public safety and video security in downtown areas, shopping malls, and parking lots.

Some other news I wanted to share that many of you may have already heard -- both Corpus Christi, TX, and Milpitas, CA, are taking back ownership and operations of their wireless broadband network from EarthLink. This is truly a strong statement on the value each of these cities derives from the network. In Corpus Christi, the primary application is Automated Meter Reading (AMR). AMR has enabled the city to centralize gas and water utility meter reading, improving billing accuracy and conservation efforts as well as customer satisfaction. In Milpitas where the network is used by mobile police and fire units, response time for emergencies has decreased by an impressive 30%. I am pleased with the decision these cities have made and look forward to continuing to work closely with them.

Going forward this year we will continue to focus on features and programs that further reinforce why our customers and partners buy Tropos solutions - because "it just works." We will also further enhance our ability to run and manage the key applications I described above, for networks that start out small as well as ones that start out big. For more information about customers and the various applications they are running on their wireless broadband infrastructure, please check out our website.

As we continue to grow and improve our operations, it’s important to me that you feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions or suggestions about Tropos or would like to discuss any aspect of our business. You can reach me at tom.ayers@tropos.com.

Sincerely,

Tom Ayers
President and CEO
Tropos Networks

To view this newsletter on the Tropos.com website, click here.

Guest Commentary

Awards

New Tropos Customers

Events / Training

Previous Newsletters


Tropos Retains Market Leader in 2007 in Wi-Fi Mesh Network Market
In 2007, Tropos remained the Wi-Fi mesh market leader in sales revenue, market share and worldwide unit shipments, according to the Dell’Oro Group’s 2007 year-end market report. Read more...

 


What if it was easy?

Neil Olsen
VP Marketing
Generonix

Generonix provides an innovative solution that enables an affordable, easy way to speed municipal Wi-Fi deployments by using the existing copper network infrastructure. For service providers with access to the copper network outside plant facilities, CopperReach from Generonix can eliminate the need for commercial power and simplify the provisioning of network backhaul. Read more..

The views expressed in this Guest Commentary are those of its author and are not necessarily reflective of Tropos Networks views. Tropos Networks, its partners and customers are not responsible for the third-party Guest Commentary content.


Awards

Tucson, Arizona Wins 2008 Smart Community Award
The Smart Community Award honored municipalities that show proactive leadership and innovation in deploying a broadband network. Tucson was honored for its Tropos Networks’ wireless broadband network, a 230-square mile system that hosts video telemedicine and ITS applications today. The March 2008 issue of Last Mile Magazine featured the Tucson story on its cover!
Read more...

Cyrus Behroozi, Tropos’ Chief Scientist Selected as EE Times ACE Award Finalist
Cyrus Behroozi was selected as one of five finalists for “Innovator of the Year” award which is presented annually by EE Times. This distinguished award is presented to an individual who has brought leadership, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to technology, a product or business.
Read more...

New Tropos Customers

Tropos Donates to Houston’s Digital Inclusion Initiative
As part of Houston’s Wireless Empowered Community Access Network (WeCAN) initiative to assist underprivileged communities in growing and prospering, Tropos donated its broadband wireless network solution to support this effort.
Read more...

Chicago Transit Authority Increases Productivity and Shortens Maintenance Cycle in Train Yards
Rail yards in Chicago move maintenance inspection transactions to handheld devices and a Tropos network to improve the quality and efficiency of train maintenance.
Read more...

Homeowners in Lake Tahoe, California Experience Reliable Wireless Broadband
Bear Creek Homeowners Association experienced the reliability of Tropos’ wireless broadband network which stayed up even during major snowstorms.
Read more...


Tropos Formula for Success

Anderson, Indiana’s AMR Network Saving City $18.7M
The city-owned Anderson Municipal Light and Power (AML&P) determined that checking water and power meters by hand was inefficient and contributed to poor customer service and satisfaction. In addition, they counted on customers to report outages and problems making their repair scheduling less efficient. Using funds from the state of Indiana that were earmarked for municipal utility conservation, Anderson deployed automated meter reading (AMR) for water and electricity that will provide substantial cost savings.
Read more...

Wireless Broadband Delivers a Competitive Advantage for Port Operations
Lázaro Cárdenas Terminal Portuaria de Contenedores S.A. de C.V. (LCTPC) is located in the state of Michoacán on Mexico’s west coast and is the largest shipping container port under construction in Latin America. Real-time tracking and location identification of shipping containers – on the docks and in the warehouse is essential to keep ships and containers moving efficiently on their way to their final destination.
Read more...


Public Technology Institute (PTI)
Miami, FL
May 6 - 8, 2008

Wireless08
London, UK
May 21-22, 2008

Wireless08
“What Made the City of St. Cloud the #1 Metro Wireless Network in the USA?”
London, UK
May 21, 2008

WiMesh Third IEEE Workshop on Wireless Mesh Networks
Keynote: Power Control and Airtime Management in City-Wide Wireless Mesh Networks
Cyrus Behroozi, Tropos Chief Scientist
San Francisco, CA
June 16, 2008

Tropos is currently planning and scheduling future training sessions. Please visit our Training page to find the training class or classes that best suit your needs. If you would like to request a specific training session or location, please contact our Training team.

Upcoming 2008 Training dates:

Level 1: June 2 – 4, Sept. 8 – 10, Dec. 8 – 10

Level 2: June 5 – 6, Sept. 11 – 12, Dec. 11 – 12

We now accept registration payments for MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express credit cards through PayPal.


Tropos Networks, 555 Del Rey Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085