Ruckus Wireless announced that Believe Wireless Broadband and the Maryland Jockey Club, owner of the Pimlico Race Course, have selected advanced Wi-Fi systems and technology from Ruckus Wireless to deliver high-capacity Wi-Fi access at the world-famous Preakness Stakes horse racing event, taking place on Saturday, May 21, 2011.
Teaming with Believe Wireless Broadband, a full-service Internet provider in the Baltimore area, Ruckus Wireless is supplying high-speed, high-capacity 802.11n products and technologies that will be used to deliver free Wi-Fi Internet access to tens of thousands of attendees, press and event staff of this year's Preakness Stakes. Believe Wireless Broadband has provided temporary Internet access to Pimlico since 2007 for the Preakness event.
Ruckus says its indoor/outdoor Wi-Fi network will ease the burden of data access from local cellular networks by offloading traffic from smart phones and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices onto a higher speed, Wi-Fi infrastructure. With a reliable wireless network in place, race-goers will be able to leverage a new Preakness application developed for iPhone, Android and Blackberry mobile devices that lets them watch videos from previous races, look up information about how to wager a bet, get profiles on the jockeys and horses, and see a schedule of races that day as well as upcoming events.
"With so much experience in dealing with high profile, high capacity events, we knew that because of the fixed area and dense user environment, the Ruckus technology would be best suited for the Preakness because of its unique ability to optimize the RF spectrum and get users on and off the Wi-Fi network quickly," said Paul Dowling, president and CEO of Believe Wireless Broadband.
The race is held each year at Pimlico, the second oldest racetrack in the U.S., established in Baltimore, MD, in 1870.
SOURCE: Preakness Stakes Races to Higher Capacity Wi-Fi from Ruckus Wireless (prnewswire)