SUNNYVALE, California and Belfast, Ireland – April 10, 2012 – All schools in Northern Ireland will now have access to wireless services as part of Northgate’s $ 266m (£170m) Education Network Northern Ireland (EN(ni)) contract. Meru Networks, Inc., (NASDAQ:MERU), a pioneer in 802.11n wireless enterprise networking is partnering with Northgate Managed Services to provide state of the art Wi-Fi connectivity to over 350,000 teachers and pupils in 1,200 schools.
The cloud-based network – the first of its kind in education in Europe– has been designed to create a dynamic, future-proof, flexible service that will give schools increased access to learning resources and enable teachers and pupils to better collaborate and communicate. Schools will have greater flexibility and choice in how wireless is used across the curriculum as the solution allows teachers and students to get access to the network and resources securely via personal devices, such as smartphones, iPad tablets, tablet PCs and laptops. Teachers and students will also be able to use educational resources and toolsets through Northgate’s My-School learning portal.
“We are thrilled that Meru’s wireless technology is such an integral part of the project,” said Bami Bastani, president and Chief Executive Officer from Meru Networks. “Cloud-based WLAN connectivity is a major advancement for learning environments because it offers flexibility and choice to organizations which are struggling with the demand for fast, reliable and robust Wi-Fi to support large numbers of mobile devices being brought onto campuses. Our proven ability to deliver reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi in such dense and diverse WI-Fi environments makes us a natural choice for schools. Our solutions are designed for simplicity and flexibility and yet they meet the demand for wireless in these fierce conditions.”
The Meru wireless network will be built around 10,000 access points located throughout the school buildings, and 38 MC4200 controllers in a central data center. The datacenter will be connected by superfast telecomm connections to the access points on the school campuses.
A Meru Education partner of three years, Northgate will take responsibility for all aspects of the installation and ongoing service, including the wide area network (WAN), wireless local area network (WLAN) and telecomm services. The five-year contract will see Northgate design, implement, manage and support the network and will ensure secure access to network resources 24×7 from a wide range of devices. The network will be designed to provide the ability to scale computing resources to meet the needs of schools both today and in the future.
Andy Ross, Chief Executive, Northgate Managed Services said: “This is a tremendous achievement for the company and is one that clearly positions both Northgate as a leading provider of innovative wireless services for schools and Meru as the wireless innovator of choice. Building the first Education Cloud in Europe is a significant point in the company’s history and creates a fantastic platform for future growth in the UK and beyond.”
Jimmy Stewart, Director, Classroom 2000 (C2k), the organization that procures technology for schools in Northern Ireland added: “The new service has been designed to recognize the educational requirements of schools in Northern Ireland, deliver technology-driven learning environments and incorporate the very latest innovations in technology. Northgate has continuously demonstrated excellence in the education services it has developed and has a highly talented and dedicated team in place. I look forward to working with Northgate in the coming months and to deploying the EN(ni) infrastructure in schools across Northern Ireland.”
Meru Networks currently has over 1,000 Education customers in the UK and Ireland and is adding nearly 15 Education customers per week. To learn more about Meru cloud-based solutions, visit the Meru website or download the new Meru WLAN Cloud Solutions Whitepaper.
About Northgate Managed Services
Northgate Managed Services provides cloud based and infrastructure services to public, private and third sector organizations and specialist managed services in the education, government, utilities and charities sectors. Northgate supports over 2000 customers across the UK as well as over 1300 primary schools and colleges. To learn more about Northgate, please visit our website or call +44 (0)208 339 7440.
About Meru Networks
Meru Networks (NASDAQ: MERU) sells virtualized wireless LAN solutions that provide enterprises with the performance, reliability, predictability and operational simplicity of a wired network with the advantages of mobility. Meru’s innovative network-in-control architecture virtualizes wireless access and produces an intelligent, self-monitoring WLAN. Moving to Meru lets enterprises migrate business-critical applications from wired networks to an all-wireless network able to handle the diversity and density of mobile communication devices. Meru’s unique “network-in-control” wireless architecture is used by all major vertical industries including Fortune 500 businesses, health care, education, retail, manufacturing, hospitality, and government. Founded in 2002, Meru is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and operates worldwide. Visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300 for more information.
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Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Meru Networks’ ability to deliver reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi in dense and diverse environments, that the Meru wireless network will be built around 10,000 access points located throughout the school buildings and 38 MC 4200 controllers in a central data center, and the ability to scale computing resources to meet the needs of schools both today and in the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including potential discrepancies between management’s preliminary analysis and the final results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, as well as risks related to a lengthening customer approval processes, including lengthening of budget approval processes, continuing investment in sales coverage and capacity as well as the announcement of a new chief executive officer, that may further affect future operating periods. These forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs; the adoption rate of our products; our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our distribution partners; our ability to compete in our industry; fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services; shortages or price fluctuations in our supply chain; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; general political, economic and market conditions and events, including lengthening sales cycles; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about these and other risks that may impact Meru Networks’ business are set forth in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 15, 2012, as well as subsequent reports filed with the SEC. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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