Wifi Revolution

Boingo Wireless, which owns and operates Wi-Fi hotspots at some of the busiest airports, has announced it has joined the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), an industry alliance of wireless broadband industry players that facilitates global Wi-Fi roaming amongst its members.

 

Boingo is said to be the first pure-play hotspot operator to join WBA. At present, Boingo operates Wi-Fi networks in 28 airports in North America and the United Kingdom, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports in the New York metropolitan area, as well as Chicago’s O’Hare and London’s Heathrow airports.

 

Commenting on Boingo Wireless joining WBA, Julie Ragbourne, chairperson of the WBA, said in a statement, “Boingo is one of the pioneers in hotspot business and the WBA board of directors is delighted to have them on-board as our latest General Member.”

 

He also said that this decision allows WBA members to benefit from the valuable hotspot network owned by Boingo and aligns well with the alliance strategy to “continually expand global roaming footprint by adding new members who can help increase quality coverage and choices for end-customers.”

 

He expected that Boingo and other WBA members from across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific would be able to negotiate access to each other's hotspots under WBA guidelines while providing Boingo an ability to use WBA’s Wireless Roaming Intermediary Exchange (WRIX) for accelerated roaming deployment with other WBA members.

 

He also stated that this expands the collective footprint available to end-customers through WBA members, especially at the airport hotspots which are increasingly important as traveler demand surges for Wi-Fi broadband access.

 

“As the original Wi-Fi roaming enabler, Boingo fully endorses the WBA’s commitment to standardizing high-quality roaming among top-tier network operators,” said Luis Serrano, vice president of network strategy at Boingo. “We look forward to furthering global roaming by working with other members of the WBA.”

 

He also stated that Boingo brings experience in hotspot roaming integration and aggregation, including existing roaming agreements with 14 of the WBA’s 20 member companies, and expertise enabling Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices, such as dual-mode handsets, for Wi-Fi connectivity and roaming authentication.

 

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