Qatar's academy of sports excellence deploys 3Com' Gold Standard' Ethernet and Wireless Solution

3Com Communication Infrastructure to Facilitate Sporting Excellence

Doha, Qatar, 7 August 2004 - 3Com, a leading provider of networking technology, has announced that it has been chosen to provide an extensive network infrastructure with wireless capabilities for the ASPIRE Academy of Sports Excellence, Qatar's elite new educational institution which aims to transform promising students into Olympic champions.

Using renowned coaches and highly-skilled exercise physiologists, the Academy will train students in soccer, athletics, swimming, gymnastics, fencing and table tennis, and aims to deploy the most advanced technology available as part of its project to mould the next generation of award-winning athletes. 

To connect the facilities on its new campus in Doha, which features academy buildings, playing fields and the largest sports dome in the world - a spectacular structure that will host the 2006 Asian Games - ASPIRE decided to invest in an advanced communications infrastructure. After a highly competitive evaluation process, ASPIRE selected a comprehensive solution from 3Com, which include a 10 Gigabit Ethernet-enabled core solution, a Gigabit to desktop switching architecture with 10 Gigabit support, as well as power over Ethernet (PoE) technology and a wireless LAN infrastructure.

"Using 3Com's solutions, we are preparing Qatar's student-athletes for international competition with the most innovative and sophisticated training strategies available," said Soubhi Abdulkarim, IT manager, ASPIRE. "3Com is truly the gold medal standard for high performance Gigabit Ethernet networks."

The new solution will play a key role in the success of the Academy, as it will be used to distribute its suite of dietary, training, and academic applications across the site, in addition to providing the communications backbone for the school's physiological, biomechanical, and videography laboratories. 

Key reasons cited for selecting 3Com technology include an industry leading price/performance ratio, enterprise-class resiliency, high scalability, and lower total cost of ownership.

"We were impressed with the 3Com network's design, which pushes traditional core concepts like redundancy and gigabit connectivity out toward the users and lets us add capacity to the network incrementally," said Abdulkarim. "Due to the size of our facilities, 3Com's power over Ethernet and wireless capabilities were also persuasive factors in our buying decision."

The ASPIRE announcement is the latest in a long series of distinguished enterprise implementations for 3Com in the Gulf region, where the company has successfully competed to supply network technology to a number of pioneering public and private sector developments. 

"ASPIRE is a major strategic win for 3Com, and the Academy's decision to work with us is a reflection of our strong track record in working with the region's most significant public projects," said Tarek Ghoul, manager for the Gulf and Levant at 3Com Middle East.  "3Com technology will provide the ideal scalable solution for ASPIRE, providing uninterrupted access for students and faculty, and expanding alongside this facility as it grows and trains more athletes." 

3Com Technology Promotes Winning Advantage

Two fully resilient 3Com Switch 7700Rs provide a powerful network core for the campus's academy buildings. To achieve redundancy and Gigabit port aggregation into the core, ASPIRE also deployed the patented 3Com XRN technology solution using pairs of 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4070s, which feed multiple 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps) links to servers and edge switches.

ASPIRE also selected 3Com's new SuperStack 3 Switch 3870, the first wirespeed stackable Gigabit switch with 10 Gigabit support, which is designed to support desktop applications for rigorous, high-performance workgroups. Delivering 1000 Mbps links to the desktop, the Switch 3870 lets ASPIRE's coaches instantly access video records of athletes to assess their training. Offering the flexibility of 24 or 48 auto-sensing 10/100/1000 ports, the Gigabit Ethernet switch features wirespeed mulitlayer switching and stackability for up to eight units via a 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) stacking architecture. As a result, a stack of Switch 3870s can conveniently scale up to 384 ports.

The solution also features 3Com wireless access points, which provide continuous network connectivity at speeds up to 54 Mbps, boosting productivity.  3Com Power over Ethernet (PoE) Multiport Midspan solutions distribute PoE to these access points, and, in the future, the school's VoIP system. In addition, a number of SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 PWR switches at the network edge deliver PoE to low-density remote buildings.

ASPIRE monitors its network using the powerful 3Com Network Administrator management software. This powerful web-based network administration tool is a practical software application that provides real-time graphical network maps and advanced monitoring and management capabilities letting IT staff efficiently pinpoint and proactively address potential trouble spots before they occur.

3Com Global Services was a key factor in ASPIRE's choice of 3Com. Working with ASPIRE's IT team, 3Com Global Services designed and installed the solution, including configuration consulting, load balancing, and resilience testing, to ensure its optimal performance. In addition, 3Com Global Services will be also providing regular network maintenance and health checks.

Furthermore, 3Com systems supports Adaptive Technology's eSchool, which is designed for parent access to lessons and grades, and can transmit video lectures to offsite locations where athletes travel to compete. The 3Com solution additionally carries the Oracle collaboration suite that ASPIRE depends on to administer its e-mail and calendaring operations.

"ASPIRE deploys some of the world's most advanced technology within its training program, and so requires a powerful, high performance network solution," concluded Hani Nofal, enterprise accounts manager at 3Com Middle East. "We're proud to be associated with a project that seems set to make a major contribution to sporting performance within the Middle East, and look forward to supporting ASPIRE's progress up to and beyond the next Olympic games."

-Ends-

About ASPIRE
ASPIRE Academy of Sports Excellence (www.aspire.qa) is an elite sports educational institute commissioned by the Arabian Gulf nation of Qatar to identify promising student-athletes and develop them into Olympic champions. Using renowned coaches and highly-skilled exercise physiologists, ASPIRE provides training in soccer, track, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, and table tennis, as well as on-site schooling and dormitory housing. The school boasts students ages 11 and 13 and plans to grow to include more age groups, as it prepares for the 2008 Summer Olympics and other international competitions.

Located in Doha, Qatar's capital, ASPIRE has a newly built campus consisting of academy buildings, playing fields, and the largest sports dome in the world - a spectacular structure that will host the 2006 Asian Games.

About 3Com
3Com is a leading provider of innovative, practical and high-value voice and data networking products, services and solutions for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organizations. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

3Com, SuperStack and the 3Com logo are registered trademarks, and XRN is a trademark of 3Com Corporation.  All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective holders.

© Press Release 2004