BOINGO PARTNERS WITH BT OPENZONE TO EXPAND WIRELESS NETWORK IN UK AND IN KEY BUSINESS TRAVEL LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE
BT Openzone agreement adds more than 1,500 hotspots to Boingo® Roaming System including all UK airports and all British Airways lounge locations worldwide
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - - Oct. 5, 2005 - Boingo Wireless today announced a roaming agreement with BT Openzone, the London-based Wi-Fi Internet service provider division of BT. The agreement adds 1,588 Wi-Fi hot spots in the UK and in key airports around the world to the global Boingo® Roaming System.
BT Openzone provides convenient, easy-to-use broadband Internet access services throughout the UK and Ireland. Its Wi-Fi network is one of the largest in Europe and includes nearly 50 international British Airways airport lounges, terminals in popular BAA airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, hotel groups including Hilton, Ramada Jarvis and Corus, conference centers and railway stations.
“London’s status as a key travel hub to the business capitals of Europe makes the BT Openzone network one of the most important in the world for business travelers. It's a great addition to the Boingo Roaming System,” said Colby Goff, senior vice president of network strategy.
“Boingo is one of the world’s leading Wi-Fi aggregators and we are delighted that this agreement opens up the BT Openzone network to an even wider reach of customers. It is vital that the industry focuses on driving awareness and usage of Wi-Fi hotspots and these roaming agreements are central to meeting this strategy,” said Julie Ragbourne, Head of Openzone Wholesale and International Roaming, BT Wireless Broadband.
Boingo gives business travelers the best choice of Wi-Fi hot spots by combining the locations of more than 100 leading Wi-Fi operators into one worldwide network, and allowing the user to roam onto any of these locations with a single subscription using Boingo's Wi-Fi client software. Its European network includes 23 countries totaling more than 12,100 hot spots under contract and its global network includes 55 countries totaling more than 22,000 hot spots under contract.
Boingo also partners with service providers to allow their users to access these hot spots through its Boingo Platform Services program. The program provides partners with access to this network, customized client software, and a full suite of back-office billing, roaming, mediation and clearinghouse services to allow them to offer their own Wi-Fi service quickly and cost effectively. To date, the company has announced Platform Services partnerships with BT Infonet, Earthlink, Fiberlink, Nextel Communications, MCI, Skype and Telecom Italia.
About BT BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions serving customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities include IT and networking services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services.
BT consists principally of three lines of business:
BT Retail, providing a comprehensive range of communications and related services to more than 20m UK consumers and businesses.
BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK to more than 600 fixed and mobile operators and service providers including the provision of broadband and private circuits.
BT Global Services, providing IT and networking services to meet the needs of multi-site organizations globally. BT Global Services operates in more than 130 countries and also offers international carrier services.
In the year ended 31 March 2004, BT Group's turnover was £18,519 million with profit before goodwill amortization, exceptional items and taxation of £2,013 million.
BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt.
About Boingo Wireless
Boingo Wireless, Inc. is an ultra-high-speed wireless Internet service available in thousands of locations such as hotels, airports, cafes and other public places in dozens of countries throughout the world. Both directly and through major carrier and ISP partners, Boingo provides business travelers with a wireless broadband Internet connection to improve productivity while on the road. Through its Wi-Fi software and Roaming System, Boingo makes finding and connecting to Wi-Fi networks point-and-click simple and secure. More information about Boingo is available at http://www.boingo.com.
Boingo is a registered trademark of Boingo Wireless Inc.
