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Customer Success Story

Magnetic Hill Goes Wireless City of Moncton extends permanent Wi-Fi solution to Atlantic Canada’s premier outdoor concert venue

Business Challenge EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Magnetic Hill has become one of Canada’s largest MAGNETIC HILL OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE music attractions. Originally built for the papal visit Location: Greater Moncton, New Brunswick Venue capacity: 65,000+ in 1985, the venue is now widely sought-after due Recent attractions: Papal visit, 1985; The Rolling to its central location in Atlantic Canada and its Stones, 2005; The Eagles, 2008; annual Magnetic Hill Music Festival natural amphitheatre qualities. The Magnetic Hill

BUSINESS CHALLENGE Musical Festival has attracted high-profile bands ● Attract top-name entertainers to increase such as The Rolling Stones and recently in 2008, concert attendance and tourism to the City of Moncton The Eagles. Located in greater Moncton, New ● Provide state-of-the-art, secure technology solution for ticket scanners, vendors, bands, Brunswick, the outdoor venue required a reliable security, and emergency services technology solution that would provide concert BUSINESS SOLUTION • Expand existing Wi-Fi Moncton using Cisco organizers and vendors the security and ticket Outdoor Wireless Mesh solution scanning capabilities of a downtown event, while • Add wireless applications to support event-day activities solidifying Magnetic Hill as a premier concert BUSINESS RESULTS destination for years to come. • Allowed scanning of more than 55,000 tickets at debut concert, saving time and providing critical information to security staff and concert Business Solution organizers In 2007, the City of Moncton installed a state-of- • Made wireless access available to bands, crew, vendors, security, and emergency the-art Cisco® Wireless Mesh solution in services partnership with Cisco and Cisco® Gold Partner • Streamlines event day processes and facilitates prompt security and emergency response HP Canada. The municipal wireless network installation included a six city-block area in the downtown core (“Wi-Fi Moncton”) and wireless Internet access on the City of Moncton’s Codiac Transit bus fleet. The next step in the wireless deployment was to expand access to include Magnetic Hill, covering approximately 1.5 square kilometers.

“The City of Moncton has always placed a high importance on technology. The scalability of the Mesh network already in place enabled a smooth expansion to Magnetic Hill, and will allow us to add future wireless technology upgrades.

Dan Babineau, director of information systems, City of Moncton

“The City of Moncton has always placed a high importance on technology,” says Dan Babineau, Moncton’s director of information systems. “The scalability of the Mesh network already in place enabled a smooth expansion to Magnetic Hill, and will allow us to add future wireless technology upgrades.”

To connect Magnetic Hill, new access points were added at the venue, as well as new permanent applications primarily for hand-held ticket processing and point-of-sale (POS) transactions for vendors. Cisco installed four ASA 5510 Adaptive Security Appliances to secure all POS and ticket transaction data, and 10 Cisco Aironet® 1522AG Lightweight Outdoor Mesh Access Points to help ensure wireless access for musicians, vendors, and staff. Cisco Catalyst® 3750 Series Switches were included in the installation to complete the wireless solution.

Results The Magnetic Hill expansion was completed in time for the annual Magnetic Hill Music Festival on August 2, 2008. Cisco partner HP Canada handled all professional services and event-day support for the concert, including the integration of wireless hand-held ticket scanners for more than 55,000 attendees. The scanners were able to read each ticket’s bar code and transmit the data to a central computer that validated the information immediately. The data allowed concert organizers to determine how many people passed through each gate at a specific time, critical for determining security and staff requirements in future years. Internet access was also made available to bands and their crew, concert staff, media, and emergency services.

“With the use of Cisco Wireless Mesh technology at Magnetic Hill, the City of Moncton has shown its foresight in provisioning technology to create a first-class outdoor concert venue in the heart of Atlantic Canada,” says Rod Murphy, Cisco Canada’s director of sales for Atlantic Canada. “The deployment of the Magnetic Hill concert site has been a true collaborative partnership with HP, and we applaud the City of Moncton on its vision and innovation.”

“The City of Moncton has repeatedly proven itself to be a long-term, strategic planner when it comes to technology deployment,” says David Power, account manager for HP Canada. “The City has wisely extended its investment in wireless to service new areas and is seeing true results.”

With the installation of permanent Wi-Fi at the Magnetic Hill concert site, the City of Moncton can confirm the venue as one of Canada’s leading open-air concert venues, and turn its sights on attracting more international musicians to the ‘hub’ of Atlantic Canada.

PRODUCT LIST Next Steps Primary Application With a successful debut of the Mesh technology at • Cisco Wireless Mesh Solution this year’s Magnetic Hill Music Festival, the City is Routing and Switching looking at integrating more applications for • Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches Security emergency services and concessions onto the ● Cisco ASA-5510 Adaptive Security Appliance network. The City will continue to reduce the Wireless number of existing high-speed DSL lines by • Cisco Aironet 1522AG Lightweight Outdoor MESH Access Points moving as much Internet traffic as possible over Primary Services the Wi-Fi network. • HP services --- Network and systems integration consulting “As Moncton continues to grow our reputation nationally and internationally, technology is a key factor in our ongoing success,” says Babineau. “With Cisco and HP, we’ve built a firm foundation that will see us well into the future.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more about the Cisco Wireless Outdoor Mesh Solution, visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/outdoorwireless For more about HP solutions, visit: http://www.hp.com To find out more about the City of Moncton, visit: http://www.moncton.ca

Printed in USA C36-468205-00 11/08