A service at Chicago’s largest airport is helping travelers recharge and use their telecommunications equipment, officials saidtoday.
At the so-called “Boingo Kiosk” at O’Hare International Airport, established about two years ago, travelers are charging their computers and cell phones and logging onto the Internet, officials say.
“Whether you need to get online to read and respond to emails for work, video chat with the family, or bid and respond to online auctions, Boingo is the perfect way to get online at the airport, at the hotel and at coffee shops, restaurants and cafés around Chicago and other cities,” officials said.
Located in a central terminal, the kiosk is one of about 100,000 WiFi hot spots operated by Boingo worldwide, according to the company’s Web site. Hot spots include those located in about 475 airports, 17,000 hotels, 9,000 McDonalds and 70,000 cafes, according to the company’s Web site.
The Boingo kiosk is in Terminal 2, and easily accessible from Terminal 1 and Terminal 3; whether traveling to Chicago for conferences or events, or coming through while traveling for fun or business, people will be able to use the services at the Boingo kiosk throughout the month of June.
Through its Concourse Communications Group, LLC subsidiary, Boingo operates wired and wireless networks at 30 airports worldwide, including 20 of the top 100 North American airports. Nations that have Boingo hot spots include Afghanistan – which has the world’s most comprehensive WiMax network, according to experts – Botswana, Anquilla, Liechtenstein, Namibia and Kuwait, company officials say.
Hot spots made headlines today when it was announced that owners of the first generation iPhone ( News - Alert) and the newer 3G iPhone will be able to use British Telecom OpenZone Wi-Fi areas to access the Internet for free starting July 11, when the so-called iPhone 2.0 goes on sale.
Originally, U.K. iPhone operator O2 offered BT ( News - Alert) Wi-Fi hotspot access to those who bought the new 3G iPhone handset, according to reports. But the company since has since had a change of heart and extended the deal to include those using the original iPhone, according to reports.
Michael Dinan is a TMCNet Editor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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