Wifi Revolution

Boingo Wireless Inc., a leading wholesale network aggregator and operator of neutral-host WiFi networks, has reportedly signed a roaming agreement with Golden Telecom (News - Alert), a leading provider of integrated communication and Internet services in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The deal will allow Boingo’s subscribers to use than approximately 7,500 WiFi (News - Alert) access points which have been integrated into Golden Telecom’s network in Moscow.

The deal, which represents Boingo’s first expansion into Russia, gives Boingo “blanket coverage” of Moscow. This is the third major network deal it has landed, as Boingo subscribers already have access to blanket WiFi networks in Taiwan (via Qware System's network) and London (via The Cloud's network). Altogether, Boingo offers tens of thousands of hotspots worldwide, and now has deals with about150 operators. Boingo users can connect to any of these locations with a single Boingo account using Boingo's free WiFi client software, which combines more than 660 network names into one "Boingo Wireless" network and stores the user name and password to simplify identifying and connecting to commercial WiFi networks.

This program offers partners not only with network access, but also to customized client software and a full suite of back-office billing, roaming, mediation and clearinghouse services. This allows Boingo’s partners to offer their own WiFi service quickly and cost effectively. The company currently has Platform Services partnerships with BT Infonet, EarthLink, Fiberlink, Verizon (News - Alert) Business and Skype.

"Golden Telecom's advanced network is a great addition to our European network expansion and introduces our roaming system into Russia," said Luis Serrano, Boingo’s vice president of network strategy, in a press release. "With the world's top-three largest metropolitan WiFi networks in our roaming system, Boingo is a great choice -- now, more than ever -- for the business traveler who needs to be online and productive wherever they go."

For more information visit  www.boingo.com and www.goldentelecom.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and Assignment Editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.

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