Ruckus Wireless, the innovator of smart Wi-Fi technology, announced that Darty, a leader in the French consumer electronics market, has become the first company to bring location-free TV to consumers in France through their nationwide network of retail stores. The Ruckus MediaFlex smart Wi-Fi system enables Darty to offer an instant TV solution for a variety of IPTV services such as services from Wanadoo, France Telecom, Alice, Neuf Cegetel, Dutch Telecom and AOL.

Now, French consumers can enjoy TV anywhere, anytime in their homes without the hassle, inconvenience and disruption of wires or cables.

France is one of the most mature and competitive markets for IPTV. Unlike other countries, IPTV services in France are often sold through retail outlets such as the Darty stores. Darty customers can now purchase the Ruckus system when they acquire IPTV services at the stores to conveniently enable IPTV at home without waiting for wiring installation. This is a first for the real-time Pay-TV market.

"France is a harbinger for the future of IPTV," said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. "And Darty is leading the way to a new generation of triple play services that give consumers the ultimate in freedom and control."

France is widely viewed as the world leader in the delivery of IPTV. Infonetics Research estimates that France now has close to two million IPTV subscribers across all broadband providers. "Nowhere is IPTV hotter than in France," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst, Broadband and IPTV at Infonetics Research. "Fierce competition among the broadband providers in France has driven the widespread adoption of IPTV. And we expect what has happened there will happen elsewhere." Heynen noted that a critical issue inhibiting IPTV adoption around the world is the in-home distribution problem.

The Gartner Group says France is currently well ahead of other markets in terms of IPTV adoption. Gartner predicts that by the end of 2006, almost half of Western Europe's IPTV subscribers will be based in France -- a total of 1.7 million generating revenues of €141 million. By 2010, Gartner expects that the number of subscribers in France will reach nearly five million and generating €682 million in IPTV revenue.

What is IPTV?
IPTV is a new way of streaming real-time television programs, movies and other video content over a broadband IP network. Unlike conventional TV, IPTV requires connecting multimedia receivers (known as IP set-top boxes) to a computer network to receive video transmissions from the broadband modem or home gateway.

Since most home computer networks do not extend to areas where the televisions are located, consumers have to put up with expensive and/or unsightly Ethernet cable installations. While technologies exist today to make Ethernet work over existing coaxial or electrical wiring in a home, their applicability is location dependant.

Furthermore, consumers have voted with their wallets for Wi-Fi as the home networking technology of choice. The Ruckus MediaFlex system is the first and only Wi-Fi system purpose-built to deliver picture-perfect video to all corners of a home by automatically steering Wi-Fi signals around interference and physical barriers.

Meanwhile the Ruckus smart Wi-Fi system can also support simultaneous Internet browsing and voice over IP calls. Once installed, the system can connect multiple TVs and set-top boxes, as well as portable video receivers such as multimedia laptops and handheld multimedia players, without the hassles of new wiring or re-wiring.

Easy Self-Installation
Darty customers can purchase the Ruckus MediaFlex system for their existing IPTV service or purchase the system in conjunction with a new IPTV service of choice available through Darty. Adding to the one-stop-shopping convenience, the Ruckus system is consumer-installable to provide consumers with the best possible IPTV experience.

Installation of the Ruckus smart Wi-Fi system is simple. Consumers merely plug the Ruckus MediaFlex router into their existing broadband gateway and a MediaFlex adapter into each set top box via an Ethernet connection. The Ruckus system then self configures. Each Ruckus MediaFlex system supports the latest data encryption technology for state-of-the-art wireless security.

The Ruckus MediaFlex router and adapter are available now in select Darty retail locations and online at http://www.darty.com