TOTAL SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Serving the Telecommunications Industry for over a decade with
Mediation, Settlement and Rating Software

WI-FI SOLUTION

Take advantage of the benefits of the wireless local area network.

General Information
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs, or Wi-Fi), based on the 802.11 protocol, are experiencing a nascent popularity and are appearing in corporate networks worldwide. Its mobility is also fueling the desire of mobile business users to have ubiquitous wireless Internet access.

Wireless and Wireline subscriber-based service providers should be adding 802.11 services to their standard Internet or GPRS/CDMA offerings in order to capitalize on this growing market need. There are three arenas in which a carrier can realize the demand for Wi-Fi services: as a Facility Provider, Wi-Fi Service Provider, or a Clearinghouse. The following section shall be devoted to explaining the different needs and possibilities inherent in each category of Wi-Fi service provision.

1. Facility Providers
A facility provider serves to connect the Wi-Fi user to the network by providing and managing "hot spots" - which are public areas where Wi-Fi-based wireless access to the Internet is sold. The Facility Provider will need to engage in roaming agreements with other Service Providers, such as Clearinghouses or ISPs. Facility Providers will not have their own subscriber base; their primary function will be as owners of the hot spot equipment, and possibly the backhaul facility.

2. Wi-Fi Service Providers (Hot Spot Aggregators)
Hot Spot Aggregators connect Wi-Fi users to the network, and generally offer monthly or hourly subscription services to existing subscribers. In some cases the Aggregators own the hot spots, while in others they have roaming agreements with hot spot Facility Providers at the wholesale or retail level. Some Aggregators focus on Wi-Fi service provision as their core business function, while others add to their existing service offerings by creating a Hot Spot Aggregator business unit.

3. Clearinghouses
Clearinghouses have neither wireless facilities nor subscribers, but instead broker the relationships between Facility Providers and Wireless Internet Service Providers, permitting each to focus on their core business. The most practical Clearinghouse business model for a Carrier will be based on geography: the Service Provider uses its knowledge of the local marketplace to create a brokering service for carriers that operate in different geographies, so as to reduce the risk of competing with their own customers for subscribers.

How TSS Can Help
In the three schemata described above, there is a common denominator: the need for a product that will bridge the disparity between the existing and new technology involved in reconciliation of billing and clearing data. The WLAN Solution by TSS is positioned to provide carrier-grade software that will enable revenue control, management, and capture for services newly rendered by Wi-Fi. Additionally, the TSS WLAN Solution processes multiple format types, so the Solution need only be integrated into the existing billing system, for it will handle all existing data and record formats as well as those presented by Wi-Fi.

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