Pronto partners with Graybar

CHICAGO--

Pronto Networks, an OSS provider for the Wi-Fi hot spot market, and telecom system distributor Graybar announced at Supercomm 2004 this week they have forged an agreement for Graybar to distribute Pronto's back-office solutions to top-tier service providers in the U.S. and Canada, as well as to operators in the fast-growing Wi-Fi hospitality market.

The agreement resulted from a relationship that began when executives of the two companies first met at Supercomm 2003 in Atlanta, said Edward Ludtke, national product manager at Graybar. "Our traditional telecom customers are beginning to want to know how they can support Wi-Fi," he said.

OSS solutions for Wi-Fi hot spots are becoming more important as interest mounts in offering managed Wi-Fi services. "We believe managed hot spots are entering an early mainstream phase, and people are wondering how they can take part," said Eric Dentler, director of business development at Pronto Networks.

Dentler said Pronto will try to align with other distributors to reach new market opportunities, and he has been busy cultivating similar deals overseas.

Pronto and Graybar also see an emerging opportunity with independent telcos, whose Wi-Fi offerings could be the wild card in a still-young market. "That's we start to hit Graybar's sweet spot in the market," Ludtke said.