SAN ANTONIO-SBC Communications Inc. said its FreedomLink Wi-Fi service would be available in 1,500 UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations by the end of this year, with additional installations continuing through 2005. The service, which will be managed by Wayport Inc., costs $20 per month for unlimited access to all FreedomLink hot spots or $8 for 24 hours of access.
The deployment, which was made with the support of Wayport Inc., is part of SBC’s previously announced plans to deploy more than 20,000 FreedomLink hot spots in 6,000 venues over the next three years and eventually integrate the local area network with Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s third-generation wide area network. Mail Boxes Etc. added that pilot programs were under way in Europe to asses the expansion of Wi-Fi services to more than 1,100 locations outside the U.S.
