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Boingo, AT&T team up on global Wi-Fi roaming

Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless now has a global Wi-Fi roaming agreement with AT&T.

The partnership expands AT&T’s hotspot access abroad, while allowing Boingo customers in the United States to use a wider range of hotspots through AT&T’s Wi-Fi network. Boingo said that its hotspots at major international airports are available to AT&T customers immediately, with service to expand throughout 2013.

“AT&T’s domestic Wi-Fi network helps fill in the gaps for Boingo users actively seeking Wi-Fi hotspots,” said Howard Buzick, VP of business development for Boingo. “With the explosion in both Wi-Fi enabled devices and customer data demand, Wi-Fi roaming continues to be a key facilitator for global data access.”

The international Wi-Fi roaming involves the use of an application, AT&T’s Wi-Fi International app, which is available to the carrier’s customers who subscribe to its 300 megabyte or 800 MB global data packages. Those customers can gain access to Boingo’s Wi-Fi hotspots via the application and are allowed up to 1 gigabyte of Wi-Fi usage each month at no additional charge.

Boingo has a network of distributed antenna systems and Wi-Fi hotspots with more than 600,000 hotspots and more than 100 roaming agreements globally, with its hotspots managed and operated by subsidiary Concourse Communications Group. AT&T has more than 32,000 domestic Wi-Fi hotspots.

Boingo’s plans range from $8 to $20 per 24 hours of Wi-Fi access around the world, or up to 2,000 minutes of Wi-Fi connectivity for $59.

Both companies are also participating in the Wireless Broadband Alliance’s trials of seamless Wi-Fi roaming.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Kelly Hill
Kelly Hill
Kelly reports on network test and measurement, as well as the use of big data and analytics. She first covered the wireless industry for RCR Wireless News in 2005, focusing on carriers and mobile virtual network operators, then took a few years’ hiatus and returned to RCR Wireless News to write about heterogeneous networks and network infrastructure. Kelly is an Ohio native with a masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on science writing and multimedia. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and The Canton Repository. Follow her on Twitter: @khillrcr