Knokke, Belgium – 20 August 2007 - free-hotspot.com and KMC announce today that they have partnered to provide FREE Wi-Fi access on the beach front at Knokke. This new service will provide the beach going public with wireless Internet access for 2 kilometres along the Knokke coastline – all at no charge. The FREE Wi-Fi will be available until the end of September, at which time the City of Knokke may decide to make the service permanent.

The free Wi-Fi service will be supported by sponsors and users will be asked to watch an advertisement in exchange for receiving free wireless Internet service.

"We are pleased to help people 'surf' for free here at Knokke," said Joe Brunoli, Vice President of HotSpot Market Development for free-hotspot.com. "Especially as more and more people are bringing wireless devices with them on holidays or weekend getaways," he added. "Now beachgoers will be able to stay connected even while they enjoy the beautiful coast. We look forward to working with KMC to ensure the success of the service this summer, and we expect that this FREE Wi-Fi access will become a permanent feature here."

Paul Lauwereins, Account Manager for KMC, said: "Our InspiAir network provides high speed wireless connectivity to Internet phones and even supports mobile TV – all from a single radio source. We believe that this technical versatility, combined with the free Wi-Fi access model from free-hotspot.com, delivers a reliable and affordable large-area Wi-Fi solution for municipalities, universities, business campuses and other locations."

About free-hotspot.com:
free-hotspot.com operates the world’s largest free wireless network with over 1600 FREE HotSpot locations in 16 countries throughout Europe. The company’s HotSpots are located in hotels, cafés, restaurants, pubs, petrol stations and other public venues. To gain access to the free-hotspot.com’s free wireless Internet service, users agree to watch an advertisement. For this innovation, free-hotspot.com received the prestigious WBI (Wireless Broadband Innovation) Award for Best Public Wi-Fi Product 2006. The profitability of the company’s programme for HotSpot operators was also recognised when free-hotspot.com was named "Best Business Idea" for the hospitality industry at the 2006 FIZZZ Awards in Germany.

free-hotspot.com supports an active user community and provides free wireless Internet service to more than 300,000 people each month. The company operates the industry’s most comprehensive directory of free HotSpots which currently lists more than 17,000 free wireless internet locations worldwide.  

To learn more about the free HotSpot programme or to find the free HotSpot nearest you, please visit: www.free-hotspot.com.

About KMC:
KMC GROUP (www.kmcgroup.be) currently consists of three divisions KMC SYSTEMS (Computers & ICT Solutions), KMC OFFICE (Quality Office Furniture) and KMC SECURITY (Video Surveillance Solutions). KMC has offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium.

The KMC Group is official distributor for Inspiair (www.inspiair.com) wireless technology for the Benelux. Inspiair recently released their flagship transmitter, the Airez 4000. This wireless transmitter, with up to 4 radios, enables wireless 802.11a/b/g connectivity up to 2 km point-to-multipoint and 20 km point-to-point within the maximum allowed power limits. This technology is behind the success of the free hotspot in Knokke-Heist.
www.kmcsys.com

Press contacts:
Emma Keenan / Johanna Toiviainen
Open2Europe
Phone: +33 1 55 02 14 59/58
e-mail: e.keenan@open2europe.com / j.toiviainen@open2europe.com