Aruba shake-out gives access in more areas

Wireless networking vendor Aruba is to unveil a series of new access points (APs) aimed at creating networking grids.

The new APs are intended to replace or supplement traditional APs, which tend to be larger, use more power, are fewer in number and are more costly to mount.

"This follows the pattern of the early days of wired Ethernet - Wi-Fi will become part of the infrastructure," said David Callisch, communications director at Aruba. "We want to move to a cellular model with micro cells."

Aruba and Ortronics have developed a wall jack that includes an AP. Other products include the 60 Series AP, which is designed to fit over existing network jacks, and a switch, the 5100, to cope with the increased number of APs.

The firm said benefits including removing the need to survey sites, and the ability to deploy over existing structured cabling.

Aruba has also signed a deal with Hewlett-Packard (HP). The computing giant's managed services division will initially resell Aruba's entire product range in the US. The companies plan to extend the relationship further afield in future months.

The deal will be handled by HP's services business, rather than its ProCurve networking division.

"There's no conflict of interest that I can see at the moment in this deal," said Jess Thompson-Hughes, managing director of Aruba reseller and importer React Technologies.

"Aruba sells direct in the US - something we come up against every now and then when dealing with large US firms in the UK. I wouldn't be surprised if HP made an offer to buy Aruba if all goes well."

Aruba is not the only wireless start-up partnering with more established networking vendors; Trapeze and 3Com entered into a partnership earlier this month, and Airespace currently has an OEM partnership with Nortel.

3Com, Juniper Networks and Symbol are also being touted as possible buyers of Aruba in a market that Brice Clark, HP's worldwide director of strategic planning for ProCurve, predicted will shake-out this year.

Clark also said customers have become increasingly sensitive about the solidity of firms they buy from, which explains the recent spate of OEM and reseller deals in the sector.

ben_tudor@vnu.co.uk