Cisco Aironet 1230 AG Series

Jerusalem is renowned for many things: the genesis of three of the world's major religions, stunning architecture, and a wealth of human history to explore. But as citizens of the great city know, Jerusalem is also home to a thriving, dynamic business community. The city's business and political leaders faced a quandary: in an age of globalization, how could they demonstrate to the world that Jerusalem is a city of the future, as well as a gateway to the past? In 2003, a small group of local business leaders came up with an ambitious solution: transform Jerusalem into the first wireless city in Israel.

"We know our city means a great deal to people around the world," says Jacob Ner-David, one of the progenitors of the idea, a managing partner of Jerusalem Capital, and chairman of the Jerusalem Development Corporation, a nonprofit association dedicated to improving the city. "But we also see that, despite a vibrant economy, Jerusalem does not get the attention that it deserves from the international business community. We wanted to send a message that we are also a state-of-the-art, high-tech city."

By allowing students, tourists, and businesspeople to access the Internet with wireless laptops or personal digital assistants (PDAs) from anywhere in central Jerusalem, the "Unwired Jerusalem" project could begin to shape that perception. On a local scale, the project's proponents believed the technology could also help bring the diverse communities of Jerusalem closer together, and encourage greater commerce and communication.

To make the Unwired Jerusalem idea a reality, the business leaders began plotting the long-term vision for the project. Initially, Unwired Jerusalem would have a narrow focus: providing high-speed wireless Internet access throughout the city's center, free of charge for all users. But long term, the project's backers had more ambitious plans. They believed the wireless infrastructure could ultimately support a broad range of new applications: portals to city services, location-based tourism information, and even municipal video security systems-all available anywhere in the city via personal wireless devices.

The Unwired Jerusalem team needed a wireless network infrastructure that could accommodate these future goals, while offering easy deployment and management for the first phase of the project. They turned to the leading wireless networking provider in Israel, Cisco Systems®.

To support the first stage of the project, the team deployed dozens of Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points throughout downtown Jerusalem. The access points support both 2.4- and 5-GHz radios, allowing them to accommodate current wireless radio standards while providing an easy migration path to future wireless technologies. Each access point can support 20 or more simultaneous user sessions at 54 megabits per second, and offers high-speed Internet access through service provider Golden Lines, Ltd. In addition, by deploying enterprise-class Cisco Aironet access points from the beginning, the team knew they would not have to upgrade the wireless infrastructure when the scope of the project expanded.

Since Internet access would initially be offered free of charge, the team had little funding to get the project up and running. They relied on the generosity and civic spirit of the organizations that were involved in the project; the organizations all volunteered their time to deploy the solution. The intuitive Cisco wireless network management system helped make the job easier by allowing the integrators to easily replicate the configuration for each access point.

Today, Unwired Jerusalem provides free wireless Internet access at coffee shops, bus stops, museums, and city squares across central Jerusalem. Hundreds of people log on every day, and the number of students, businesspeople, and tourists using the public network leaves a distinct impression on visitors to the city.

"Since deploying the solution, there has been a real change in the way people use technology in the city," says Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. "Seeing visitors, residents, and students using the system to interact and communicate in the city's squares and cafes is wonderful. It sends a clear message that we have both a thriving, fully modern community here, as well as our treasures from the past."

Thanks to the Cisco Aironet technology at the core of the solution, the service has been reliable, and provides the secure, high-performance connectivity that users demand.

The Unwired Jerusalem team is now working with municipal and business organizations to develop the second phase of the project. Both civic and business leaders see enormous potential for delivering new services over the wireless infrastructure.

City leaders see opportunities to help police and emergency services stay more closely connected by sharing real-time voice, video, and data communications wirelessly throughout Jerusalem. And business leaders envision a day when a tourist visiting the Western Wall can take a guided audio tour, download maps of the area, and browse recommendations for nearby restaurants, all from a wireless-enabled PDA.

The Cisco Aironet infrastructure will support full voice, video, and data integration, as well as the security to ensure that private networks are fully protected from public traffic.

"The ability to extend network communications wirelessly anywhere in the city will offer tremendous benefits," says Mayor Lupolianski. "The possibilities are truly unlimited."

Cisco Systems has already helped organizations worldwide deploy secure, versatile, high-performance wireless networking solutions. To find out how Cisco can help your organization, contact your local account representative, or visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedwireless