SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) today announced a major initiative with the City and County of San Francisco, the City of San José, CA and Global Reach Technology to create the first large-scale municipal Hotspot 2.0 service that allows millions of visitors and residents to automatically and securely connect to and seamlessly roam using San José and San Francisco free Wi-Fi services. The new Hotspot 2.0 service is now live and operational.

An innovative approach to providing public Wi-Fi access, Hotspot 2.0 is a new technology specification developed by members of the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) that radically simplifies and automates how users securely connect to and roam between Wi-Fi networks without requiring users to manually select a network or sign-on.

Leveraging new Hotspot 2.0 technology, users in San Francisco and San José now can enjoy seamless and secure Wi-Fi data connectivity that mirrors today’s cellular experience, with the added benefit of working on Wi-Fi-only devices such as tablets and laptops. The initial Bay Area Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0 deployment supports Hotspot 2.0 enabled iOS 7 devices (iPhone 5/5s/5c, iPad 3, iPad Mini, iPad Air, iPad Mini Retina, and iPod Touch 5th Gen) as well as Apple laptops running OS X Mavericks.

Ruckus Wireless Inc.