Ruckus to offer free Wi-Fi at Japan's Kansai International Airport

NEW DELHI: Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products and technology have been chosen by Japan’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) to provide free public Wi-Fi at the airport for international travelers.

The new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi network at KIX serves more than 50,000 travelers every day, a statement said.

KIX has deployed over 100 Ruckus ZoneFlex™ dual-band indoor access points (APs), centrally managed using two Ruckus ZoneDirector™ 3000 Series Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) controllers, to effectively cover high-density public areas throughout the airport where travelers gather.

KIX connects Japan’s Kansai area to the world. It handled more than 140,000 planes and over 19 million travelers in 2013. Among three airports located in the Kansai area, only KIX has regular international flights, and thus is contributing to an overall increasing use of Japan’s airports by international travelers.

Kansai International Airport is first to offer free public Wi-Fi service to travelers with autonomously managed Wi-Fi access points. Due to the explosive growth of mobile devices and travelers’ increasing desire to be able to stay online everywhere, it soon became unable to keep up with demand.

The new, free public Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi service at Kansai International Airport covers all major public areas of the Airport, including arrival and departure halls, shopping areas, and boarding gates. Since its introduction, KIX’s new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi network connects up to 700-800 users at any given time of the day.

Hideyuki Moriike, Sub-Leader, System Support 2 Group, System Service Department of KIA Information and Communications Network Co, said: “Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi exceeded our expectations. It covers a much broader range and provides more connectivity to much more devices than the old Wi-Fi network. When comparing it with other vendors’ offerings, Ruckus provided the same coverage and was able to connect more clients using up to 30 percent fewer access points.”