Study case in French : "Digitalisation du Point de vente : Sortir du fantasme !" by Hub One

"Le commerce de demain devrait marquer l’avènement d’une nouvelle ère ! L’expérience d’achat est amenée à évoluer inéluctablement et passera par l’abolition des frontières entre magasins physiques et virtuels.

Aujourd’hui, les consommateurs souhaitent bénéficier des avantages du e-commerce (recherche aidée, gain de temps, disponibilité des stocks, etc.) tout en conservant les attraits de l’achat en magasin (contact humain, démonstrations produits, achat immédiat, etc.). Afin d’anticiper ces attentes croissantes, les commerçants doivent dès à présent repenser le concept-même de magasin et s’engager vers la digitalisation de leurs points de vente.

Toutefois, digitaliser les espaces de vente ne s’improvise pas. Réussir un projet de digitalisation, c’est opter pour une gestion de projet pragmatique. Les briques techniques, matérielles et logicielles, doivent être déployées, administrées et maintenues en s’intégrant au SI existant.

Hub One, facilitateur d’accès aux technologies, se devait de participer à ce carnet rassemblant les visions et expériences d'experts et d'acteurs influents du marché (distributeurs, foncières, mais aussi éditeurs, équipementiers, consultants). Un concentré de tendances, de réflexions et de bonnes pratiques pour définir les stratégies efficaces à mettre en place."

WiFiNovation's insight:

Les solutions Hub One de digitalisation des espaces : http://goo.gl/5vJCxy

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Could this portable Wi-Fi solution revolutionise onboard connectivity?

There can be no disputing the fact that the vast majority of today’s travellers want access to high-quality connectivity at every stage of their journey, including throughout the flight itself. However, bandwidth capacity constraints and high costs continue to be a stumbling block, and up until now a viable alternative has failed to materialise.

We say ‘up until now’ because that viable alternative may just have surfaced. FTE can exclusively reveal that MI Airline has developed a compact, portable, battery-powered and self-scaling Wi-Fi network, which can be integrated into existing aircraft to create an alternative connectivity and entertainment option.

The product is called ‘AirFi’ and through the use of an offline network, similar to an intranet connection, it can provide passengers with access to magazines, newspapers, games, destination guides and a passenger-to-passenger chat function, all using their own smartphone or tablet. In addition, passengers can use the network to order and pay for duty free products, and food and beverage items during the flight. So, if a passenger is keen to have some form of connectivity to keep them occupied during the flight, but is not desperate for a connection that will allow them to check their emails, for instance, the likes of AirFi could provide the solution.

Now, MI Airline is not itself claiming that this solution is designed to replace fully-fledged in-flight Wi-Fi, but it surely offers an alternative for those airlines that want to satisfy their passengers’ demands for connectivity, but feel that offering costly Wi-Fi should not be the only option.

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Ruckus Launches Dual-band, Three-stream 802.11ac Wi-Fi AP

The Ruckus ZoneFlex R700 AP integrates the company's BeamFlex+ adaptive antenna array technology to extend the range, reliability and speed of indoor Wi-Fi services, giving enterprises and service providers the ability to offer Gigabit-class Wi-Fi performance. It can operate as a standalone access point (AP) or part of a centrally managed wireless LAN. It incorporates six custom smart antenna arrays—one for each band and spatial stream.



By using per-packet adaptive antenna control, polarization diversity, and active channel selection techniques, Ruckus said it is able to increase the useful uplink and downlink range, which is also boosted by the more efficient 256-QAM introduced by the 802.11ac standard.

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Edinburgh city centre close to free #WiFi access

The plan would see the wireless network provide free megabyte access to any enabled device 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Spanish company GOWEX would provide and operate the network, with the council’s Finance and Resources committee considering the 10 year contract next Thursday.

If approved, the network would form a central part of the council’s plans to continue growth of Edinburgh’s economy. They believe that having free WiFi in places like Leith, Gorgie and Morningside will attract visitors to stay longer and spend more.

Councillor Frank Ross, Economy Convener, said: “This is a fantastic result for Edinburgh – it’s a great service for city residents, adds clout to the visitor experience and pays its own way. As a Council we’re proud of the international companies that want to work with us to bring the best to the City.

“The GOWEX commitment to our town centres is especially exciting. It means safe, secure and free access at all times to WiFi the equal of New York, Paris and Madrid not just in the city centre but for great places such as Portobello, Stockbridge and Corstorphine.”

If the plans go ahead, GOWEX’s first phase plans are to install the wireless network equipment in the city centre and be up and running for the start of the summer’s festivals.

Having wi-fi access could prove to be an integral part of visitor experience and organisers are certain that, if approved, the plans will contribute to yet another year of success.

Ken Hay, Chair of Festivals Edinburgh, said: “The Edinburgh Festivals know that the increasing use of mobile devices by residents and visitors in any city means that easy access to WiFi is now a basic expectation.

“The news that Edinburgh is making WiFi freely available to visitors and residents in time for the August Festivals is tremendous. This new service will not only boost access to the shows and information we provide, but also allow visitors to fully share their own unique experiences on social media, enhancing the profile of Edinburgh around the globe as a must-see destination.”

Edinburgh is one of 22 cities across the UK benefiting from Government’s Super Connected Cities £150m Programme which is being delivered through Broadband Delivery UK.

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Wi-Fi Specialist AirTight Networks Aims To Create New Class Of Social Media MSPs

Wireless specialist AirTight Networks is rolling out a new partner program called EZ Street, aimed at growing solution providers' managed services footprint and offering them new opportunities around social media and big data analytics.

The EZ Street program, according to Anita Pandey, vice president of marketing and business development at AirTight, is just the start of what will be a major channel offensive from Mountain View, Calif.-based AirTight.

"Our goal is, within the next 12-18 months, to do at least 80 percent [of our business] through the channel," said Pandey, who joined AirTight in October from Ruckus Wireless. "If we can get to 100 percent, there's nothing to stop us. It's more just the reality of getting the mind share."

AirTight's new EZ Street Program is targeted at solution providers in the wireless and networking arenas that either want to establish or grow their managed services arm. The services opportunities with AirTight are rich, according to Pandey, because AirTight's access points are part of the company's broader cloud services offering, meaning they are hosted and managed entirely from the company's public or private cloud.

What's more, Pandey noted that there are zero upfront costs for either AirTight customers or partners, as all AirTight access points are sold and purchased in an opex-based model.

Also setting AirTight apart, according to both Pandey and AirTight partners, is the fact that its access points come with AirTight's Social Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Analytics solutions built-in. Targeted largely at vertical markets like retail, hospitality and the food industry, AirTight's Social Wi-Fi is designed to give businesses better insight into their customers' preferences and buying behaviors, allowing them, ultimately, to roll out more targeted loyalty programs and marketing campaigns.

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Free wi-fi access across Greece via 5,000 hotspots

The General Secretariat for Telecommunications will in the next 10 days put to public consultation a plan for developing a wireless Internet access network across Greece. The aim is to implement a pledge made by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in November that full coverage would be available by the end of this year. The secretariat aims for the consultation to be completed within 15 days and the tender to be announced by mid-April. User access will likely be restricted to 30 minutes per login.

Using funds from the “digital convergence” program of the European Union, the plan will concern the installation of wi-fi hotspots at all town and city halls around the country, at archaeological sites and museums, and at ports and marinas. Menelaos Daskalakis, general secretary for telecoms, told Kathimerini that the there will be close to 5,000 access points around the country. He said the budget is some 15 million euros.

“The final selection is primarily based on population numbers. We will rely on data given to us by local authorities,” said Daskalakis, adding that the City of Athens has so far failed to respond to the secretariat’s invitation to be included in the program. He said that the municipality intends to launch its own tender for 16 wi-fi hotspots, budgeted at 1.36 million euros. Had it been included in the state program Athens would have had another 20 hotspots based on its population.

So far 303 municipalities have expressed an interest in installing wi-fi hotspots at about 6,500 locations around the country. More than half of these demands will be satisfied. In a separate procedure run by the National Research and Technology Network, wireless access points will be installed in hospitals, while public transport authorities will undertake the installation of access points on buses and metro stations, some of which already enjoy wireless connectivity through a pilot scheme.

The country’s main telecom companies are expected to take part in the tender, and may be allocated specific geographical areas. Their task will be to install and maintain the equipment for the first year.

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SCOTLAND : Rail passengers at more than 50 stations will be able to access free wi-fi by next spring

RAIL passengers at more than 50 stations will be able to access free wi-fi by next spring, Transport Scotland has announced.

The Government body has invested £863,000 to double the number of stations where travellers can go online from the 26 already getting wi-fi capability.

Previous investment has seen internet access rolled out at some of Scotland's busiest train stations, including Glasgow Central.

The second round of work, taking in Oban, Aviemore and Troon among others, is due for completion before the next ScotRail franchise begins in April next year.

ScotRail's Class 158 and Class 380 trains will also be fitted with wi-fi equipment after the operator's Class 170 trains were upgraded last year. By next spring, almost half its trains will be connected.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "We want to ensure all passengers can get on with their busy lives while travelling and that visitors to truly international events have a good experience of our rail networks.

"While it is great that wi-fi brings benefits for events like the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup, it is equally important we have a rail network that is fit for the future as we move towards the next franchise.

"Scotland's business community has made it clear that wi-fi access on commuter routes would boost competitiveness in Scotland and we are already well on the way to ensuring online access on all of our busiest commuter routes.

"The second tranche will see relatively low-footfall stations at Wick, Kyle of Lochalsh, Oban and Aviemore all benefit, as well as other tourism-heavy stations such as Troon, Leuchars and Balloch."

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail managing director, said there are more than a quarter of a million wi-fi users on its express trains each month.

"With this in mind, we're also optimising our entire website for people using mobile devices and updating the wi-fi log-in process so people can stay connected when moving between trains and platforms," he said.

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