Appear Networks’ Wireless Technology Improves Paris Subway Customer Service

The “La Defense” Transportation Hub Transforms into a Workspot Providing Paris Subway Employees Access to Advanced Wireless Services

Stockholm, Sweden, February 16, 2005 - Appear Networks and Paris Subway (RATP) together announce the first deployment of context-aware Wi-Fi services in the La Defense subway station. La Defense is the second largest transportation hub in France and among the ten largest in Europe. More than 480,000 passengers travel daily through the La Defense hub, the connection point for six types of transportation systems: RER, subway, bus, tram, taxi and the SNCF suburban train. It serves one the most important business districts of the Paris area, and is an essential node in the Paris public transportation network. It is crucial for RATP employees to instantly access up-to date information to accurately answer questions from time-constrained passengers such as when the next bus is leaving or how to locate one of the numerous towers that constitute the Paris Business District.

La Defense RATP employees are now equipped with Wi-Fi-enabled Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Using the Cisco-based Wi-Fi network deployed by Naxos – subsidiary of RATP – and the Appear Networks wireless communication platform, upon entering a hotspot the RATP employee is automatically recognized and receives direct access to personalized information related to his job function and information that may be required by passengers. This function turns the La Defense Wi-Fi hotspot into an intelligent working environment: the Workspot. Itinerary planning, traffic disruptions, timetables, real-time traffic information and other location-based information are automatically pushed onto the employee’s mobile device depending on his location, employee profile and time of the day.

“This installation of advanced Wi-Fi services in a subway station is unprecedented”, explained Philippe Vappereau, managing the Traveler Information System Department. “Our initial goal was to help our employees provide better answers to the customers’ requests in order to improve quality of service along their journey. Now, La Defense RATP employees can easily access proximity services to provide real-time traffic information and local information frequently asked by travelers. This is a strong trend in public transportation - innovative transport companies like RATP intend to not only transport passengers from point A to point B, but also to develop innovative services that will improve the passengers overall experience.”

Today, passengers can connect to the Wi-Fi network in La Defense and access the Internet but only RATP employees are able to access advanced Wi-Fi services.

“Appear Networks is proud to be the main supplier for this first la Defense deployment,” commented Xavier Aubry, co-founder and Vice President of Business Development at Appear Networks. “It is the direct result of our commitment to developing innovative wireless technologies for the transportation industry. Our objective now is to deploy the Appear technology through out the entire Paris subway network and to other transportation companies where wireless technologies generate productivity gains and improved quality of service to travelers.”

Appear Networks intelligent wireless communication platform connects mobile workers with instant access to voice, data and video communications transmitted over standard wireless networks. The Appear platform filters information through an array of pre-determined parameters enabling the delivery of personalized, location-based, time-specific wireless applications to mobile devices. Appear Networks partners with IT industry leaders Cisco and Capgemini in a joint Wi-Fi offering called @Anyplace Access, featuring a fully secure, end-to-end, integrated Wi-Fi platform solution based upon open standards technology from Cisco and Intel. Appear Networks is privately held and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Appear, Click & Run, Workspot are registered trademarks of Appear Networks. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.