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Tailgating technophiles who want Internet access may get their wish down at the sports arena.
Hackensack-based Wave2Wave just turned on a Wi-Fi network at the Continental Arena and is working on a system for Giants Stadium, which is likely to include wireless hot spots available to fans who want Internet access from the stadium parking lot.
"We're talking about the arena and stadium parking lots -- it's under consideration," Stephen Asman, president of Wave2Wave, said Monday.
Asman's company spent a month installing a Wi-Fi network to provide wireless high-speed Internet access inside Continental Arena. The system
will be used by media, event and concert promoters, and various sports
teams, the company said.
A similar Wi-Fi network will be turned on at Giants Stadium within the
next "two to three weeks" and completed by August, Asman said. If all goes
well, patrons will be able to access the Internet in the parking lot
before football season, he said.
Wave2Wave has provided communications services in the past for the New
Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Wave2Wave's deal with the NJSEA
comes six months after the company's purchase of Intellispace, a
Manhattan-based communications provider. That purchase expanded
Wave2Wave's customer base to nine states and more than 250,000
end-users.
The company now provides a range of communications services for
business customers including wired networks and high-capacity Internet
connections both wired and wireless.
Asman said Wave2Wave will be turning on a Wi-Fi network at Liberty
Science Center in Jersey City this summer.
Wave2Wave, which got its start in 1999 just before the
telecommunications bust, stayed afloat selling fixed wireless. The
technology sends a high-capacity Internet connection from one antenna to
another installed within sight of the first. Former President Bill
Clinton's Harlem office was one of Wave2Wave's first customers, receiving
a connection beamed across the Hudson River.
Wave2Wave customers often now purchase a fixed wireless Internet
connection as a backup, he said.
Asman said he expects Wave2Wave annual revenues near $25 million this
year. The company has about 70 employees.
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