LAS VEGAS--Proxim Wireless announced at the Broadband Wireless World conference here that it is launching a new family of outdoor, dual-radio Wi-Fi mesh access points for the municipal wireless network market, as well as a grant program that encourages further municipal project development.

The new multi-frequency access point family extends the company's ORiNOCO product brand, which survived after Proxim acquired the line from Lucent Technologies and later filed bankruptcy, with the ORiNOCO 4900MR-LR platform. The solution for large metropolitan deployments works at the 5.8 GHz unlicensed frequency and at the 4.9 GHz frequency for public safety, as well as the 5.4-5.7 GHz band in use in Europe.

Meanwhile, under what it called an "Equipment Grant Program," Proxim said that cities currently in the planning stages for municipal Wi-Fi networks, and which meet certain, unspecified criteria, can apply to be awarded "a quantity" of the new outdoor mesh access points for free, a company statement said. Proxim said it will choose two cities for the award, and that candidates can apply on the company Web site.