San Jose

Extreme Networks at an NFL Stadium Near You

Chuck Berger, the chief executive of San Jose-based Extreme Networks, said his network infrastructure company is now the official Wi-Fi analytics provider of the National Football League.  He said that he thought there would be a lot of people watching replays or checking on fantasy football leagues.

"Our most common use was people taking selfies at the stadium and sending them to their friends," Berger told Press:Here

The NFL wanted to figure out what people were doing and get their attention by enhancing the fan experience, he said. "It wants to get us out of our comfortable reclining chairs and out from in front of our big HDTVs …and get us back into the stadiums."

Berger said that Extreme Networks creates solutions for companies who are struggling as more and more employees come to work with devices that suck up a lot of bandwidth, such as Netflix or other multimedia files. Upgrading networks helps, he said, and creating more infrastructure for Wi-Fi.

As for security concerns, Berger said that Extreme Networks is likely too small to be tapped by the National Security Agency or other government group. "I don’t think we’re big enough to be on the radar of the NSA," he said. "And we’ve seen no feedback whatsoever from our customers."

Editor's Note: Chuck Berger is no longer Extreme Networks' CEO as of April 2015

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