Boingo Wireless may have made its name with paid WiFi hotspot access, but today it is doubling down on free: the public WiFi operator is buying Cloud Nine Media, a startup co-founded by ex-Googler Sebastian Tonkin that specializes in sponsored WiFi services, which in turn cost nothing for consumers to use. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is a mark of how public WiFi services are evolving to a point where, with the rise of smartphones -- and especially tablets and gaming devices that do not have cellular access -- more people are expecting access wherever they are without going through the trouble of paying for it, and how Boingo needs to change with the times. Boingo provides managed WiFi services in public places like shopping malls, airports, and restaurants, with its 500,000 hotspots covering some 1.5 billion people each year worldwide. Since opening for business in May 2010, Cloud Nine has picked up deals with 6,000 airports, hotels, and other public areas in the U.S. and Canada, who now offer WiFi access free of charge, "brought to you" by sponsors who get 30 seconds of airtime with users before they can proceed with Internet access. chicago city pass fun things to do in nyc things to do in california
No comments:
Post a Comment