REDWOOD CITY, California, United States—The board of directors for privately held wireless Web site enabler 2Roam voted to shut down the company and sell off its assets.
“We are working with customers to assist them in transitioning their services and are seeking a buyer(s) for the assets of the company,” wrote Jeff Hansen, 2Roam’s senior vice president of marketing, in an e-mail response to Global Wireless.
2Roam is the latest in a series of high-profile wireless data companies to either retreat from the sector or close up shop completely. FreeRein, which offered a wireless work force infrastructure product, is also no longer operating, and Finland’s Sonera is looking to sell the U.S. division of its wireless Internet portal.
Founded in July 1999 and funded by Panasonic, Siemens, CMGI@Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Trans Cosmos USA, 2Roam quickly scored several major customers. eBay, Best Western Hotels, Tribune Interactive and National Airlines paid 2Roam to create a wireless Web presence. But as time wore on, customer contracts were few and far between. The company’s last major deal was with systems integration giant Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, which said it would license 2Roam’s core technology as the basis for its wireless platform.
