Press Release

Contacts:

Katie O'Neill
E-Mail:

Boingo Wireless to Bring Wireless Broadband to Business Travelers

Largest Selection of Public Wi-Fi Hot Spots through One Easy Account;
Custom Software for Point-and-Click Wi-Fi Management

– Boingo Wireless, Inc. launched today and announced plans to provide ultra-high-speed wireless Internet service in major hotels, airports, coffee shops and other popular venues. Boingo™ customers will have access to more than 750 public Wi-Fi "hotspot" locations through the Boingo Wireless service. Boingo Wireless was founded by Sky Dayton, founder and chairman of EarthLink.

The Boingo Wireless service is designed for business travelers who are frustrated with slow dial-up access when away from their home or office. Boingo utilizes Wi-Fi, also referred to as 802.11b, which has emerged as the preeminent international standard for wireless broadband Internet access. Wi-Fi provides speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, almost 200 times faster than 56k dial-up service.

"Anyone who travels and has endured the pain of dial-up - long e-mail downloads, excruciatingly slow and expensive connections - knows the frustration of not having high-speed access when on the road," said Sky Dayton, CEO and founder of Boingo Wireless.

"Wi-Fi Hot Spots are popping up all over the place, but until now actually finding and connecting to them was a real challenge," added Dayton. "Our software makes locating, 'sniffing' out and connecting to these broadband wireless networks simple. Point-and-click simplicity for finding and connecting to Wi-Fi networks."

Boingo Beta Software Available
Boingo has developed the world's first full-feature Wi-Fi software that "sniffs" the air for available signals and makes it easy for customers to connect to Wi-Fi networks. It also includes a profile manager so they can connect to favorite Wi-Fi signals quickly and easily. A public beta version of Boingo's software is available to download for free from the Boingo website at www.boingo.com.

The full release software, which is coming soon, will also include a searchable database of Boingo's hundreds of Wi-Fi Hot Spots so customers can find locations whether they are online or not; an integrated authentication mechanism to make it simple to log on to the Boingo Wireless network; and a one-click "Personal VPN" to resolve the well-reported problems with Wi-Fi security.

Boingo Service -- Coming Soon to a Hot Spot Near You
In conjunction with the Boingo software, the Boingo Wireless service will provide instant wireless broadband access for business travelers at a growing list of over 750 hotels, airports, coffee shops, and other locations. To access these "Hot Spots," a Boingo customer will use the company's user-friendly software to locate a network signal and simply click "connect" to start using the Internet at broadband speeds. For added protection against hackers and snoops, Boingo will provide a one-click "Personal VPN" that completely secures the connection from the customer's PC all the way back to a Boingo data center deep in the heart of the Internet.

Some of Boingo's hotspot locations will include:

  • Major U.S. Airports such as Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Austin-Bergstrom (AUS), San Jose (SJC) and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA);
  • Select locations in prominent hotel properties such as Four Seasons, Hilton, Radisson, Sheraton, Wyndham, and more;
  • Popular coffee shops, restaurants and other public locations in major U.S. cities;
  • Boingo Wireless has hotspot locations in 100% of the markets served by the 20 highest trafficked airports, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Washington DC;
  • Boingo's location database also includes free community Wi-Fi networks in cities such as Jacksonville, Fla.; Austin and Houston, Texas; San Francisco Bay Area, St. Louis, Mo.; Vancouver, Canada; and London, England (these networks will be available at no charge).
Boingo Service Plans
Boingo will have three service plans that meet the needs of all business travelers - from the occasional traveler to the hardcore road warrior:
  • Boingo AsYouGo - no monthly fee, $7.95 per 24 hour connect per venue
  • Boingo Pro - $24.95 per month for up to 10 24-hour connects; each additional connect is $4.95
  • Boingo Unlimited - $74.95 per month for unlimited access


About Boingo Wireless
Boingo Wireless, Inc. was founded in 2001 by Sky Dayton, founder and current chairman of EarthLink. Boingo received venture funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Sprint PCS and Evercore Ventures. Boingo's strategy is to provide the largest network of ultra-high speed wireless Internet access for business travelers through Wi-Fi "Hot Spots" worldwide. For more information, or to download a beta version of Boingo's free Wi-Fi software, visit www.boingo.com or call 800-U-Boingo.