Wayport wins McDonald's hotspot gig
Grok Headline matches for Wayport wins McDonald's hotspot gig
McDonald's Chooses Wayport for New Wi-Fi
McDonald's Chooses Wayport for New Wi-Fi
04/13/2004 03:05 AMAP via Newsday Apr 13 2004 7:09AM GMT
McDonald's Chooses Wayport for New Wi-Fi
(AP)
McDonald's Chooses Wayport for New Wi-Fi
(AP)
04/13/2004 12:40 AMAP - McDonald's Corp. has chosen Wayport Inc. to provide wireless
Internet service in dining rooms and drive-through windows at several
thousand of its U.S. restaurants.
McDonald's Taps Wayport for Wi-Fi
(NewsFactor)
McDonald's Taps Wayport for Wi-Fi
(NewsFactor)
04/13/2004 03:45 PMNewsFactor - McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has chosen Wayport as its
preferred provider of high-speed wireless technology, now being rolled
out in its fast-food restaurants across the
country.
Wayport fries competition for McDonald's
bid
Wayport fries competition for McDonald's
bid
04/13/2004 10:10 AMThe Wi-Fi company will be the sole provider of wireless Internet
access at McDonald's restaurants in the U.S.
Wayport Plans to Serve McDonald's With
Wi-Fi
Wayport Plans to Serve McDonald's With
Wi-Fi
04/13/2004 01:58 AMNew York Times Apr 13 2004 5:55AM GMT
WAYPORT POWERS McDONALD'S U.S. WI-FI
SERVICES
WAYPORT POWERS McDONALD'S U.S. WI-FI
SERVICES
04/19/2004 10:59 AMWi-Fi Technology Forum Apr 19 2004 3:44PM GMT
McDonald's selects Wayport to serve up
Wi-Fi
McDonald's selects Wayport to serve up
Wi-Fi
04/13/2004 12:50 PMWayport Inc. said McDonald's Corp. has selected the company as its
exclusive nationwide public access Wi-Fi provider, which could lead to
deployment of the world's largest Wi-Fi network. Dan Lowden, vice
president of marketing at Austin-based Wayport, said his company
expects to install Wi-Fi service in about 3,000 McDonald's restaurants
this year and eventually plans to extend the service to "as many as
possible" of the 13,000 McDonald's outlets in the U.S. during the
course of the four-year contract.
McDonald's chooses Wayport for new Wi-Fi
restaurant service
McDonald's chooses Wayport for new Wi-Fi
restaurant service
04/13/2004 07:25 AMBoston Globe Apr 13 2004 11:29AM GMT
Wayport, McDonald's cook up hot-spot
deal
Wayport, McDonald's cook up hot-spot
deal
05/24/2004 11:22 PMWayport, McDonald's serve hot-spot deal
Wayport, McDonald's serve hot-spot deal
05/25/2004 10:18 AMZDNet May 25 2004 2:16PM GMT
McDonald's taps Wayport to add thousands
of Wi-Fi spots
McDonald's taps Wayport to add thousands
of Wi-Fi spots
04/13/2004 01:58 PMUSA Today Apr 13 2004 6:28PM GMT
Wayport to Give McDonald's Wireless
Internet Access (Reuters)
Wayport to Give McDonald's Wireless
Internet Access (Reuters)
04/13/2004 09:55 AMReuters - Wayport Inc. will provide wireless
high-speed Internet access, known as Wi-Fi, to customers in
McDonald's Corp. (MCD.N) restaurants in the United States,
according to a deal announced by both companies on Tuesday.
T-Mobile wins Heathrow hotspot siting
T-Mobile wins Heathrow hotspot siting
05/10/2004 11:42 AMWi-Fi to be installed in other UK airports too
Boingo wins Linksys hotspot kit promo
Boingo wins Linksys hotspot kit promo
04/15/2004 06:33 AMVenues lured with $300-400 a month profit claim
Wayport Metrics
Wayport Metrics
05/25/2004 04:20 PMDuring Wayport's briefing yesterday, they shared key metrics about the
company: It's rare to see this much data from any hotspot provider,
which goes to show the confidence Wayport has in its current and
future businesses. The old saying is, never write your competitor's
business plan for them. Wayport fears no such animal, it's clear,
especially with its Wi-Fi World partnership model ahead of it. In
terms of core connections or 24-hour sessions, Wayport shows 124,000
in the first quarter of 2001, rising to 301,000 in first quarter of
2003, and 645,000 in the first quarter of this year. They estimate
714,000 connections for this current quarter, and over a million for
third quarter. These connections include all direct and third-party
pay-as-you-go and subscriber uses. Wayport also provided its raw
revenue figures for the last three year. The company started with $1.5
million received in 2002's first quarter, rising consistently and
steadily to $6.1 million in the first quarter of 2004. They estimate
$6.7 million for second quarter, $8.7 million for third quarter, and
over $10 million in the final quarter of 2004. The company's CEO
expected to produce about $1.5 to $2 million per week within 12 months
for an annual runrate of $75 to $100 million. Under Wi-Fi World,
subscriber connections ostensibly won't be counted because Wayport
will receive fixed fees per venue regardless of connections. However,
Wayport will still collect walk-up fees for two-hour sessions ($2.95
for two hours) which they will share with the retail venue....
Wayport Raises $20M
Wayport Raises $20M
08/03/2004 12:47 PMWayport reports raising an additional $20 million in private
placement: We try to avoid reporting on routine financial events such
as funding rounds unless the company has critical importance to the
industry or its financial well-being is in question. Wayport told me
about a year ago that they were seeking additional funds in a round
that would allow them to expand their sales force, among other
purposes. That round just closed at $20 million. I'm not surprised
that Wayport was able to raise these funds given their Wi-Fi World
retail model of charging announced several weeks ago, which provides
them a sustainable model from Day One for unwiring McDonald's
locations, for which they have the exclusive franchise contract.
Wayport was also selected as the managed services provider for SBC's
FreedomLink to build out the several thousand UPS Store locations. In
the wake of May's announced Cometa Networks shutdown due to lack of
funds, it's useful to know that Wayport has these additional funds in
hand. Wayport disclosed its revenue predictions in May when they
announced their Wi-Fi World pricing model for partners....
Wyndham Re-Ups with Wayport
Wyndham Re-Ups with Wayport
06/21/2004 01:50 PMWyndham has long been the mainstay of Wayport's hotel market, and
they've re-upped: The new contract will last three years, and comes at
a time that Wayport is exploring new business models for providing
flat-rate reseller access to their retail partners--hotels and other
venues could follow, but not for months. Wyndham has both wired and
Wi-Fi service, mostly in-room wired broadband and Wi-Fi in public
spaces, and provides free Internet access at its 85 properties to
members of its By Request affinity club. Membership in the club is
free, but must be completed before checking in....
Wayport Hits 6,300 Locations
Wayport Hits 6,300 Locations
01/04/2005 02:27 AM Wayport has 6,300 locations equipped; 5 million sessions in 2004:
Wayport announced that they have exceeded 6,300 hotspots between
locations with which they have directly contracted and those that they
operate as a managed service, primarily for SBC Communications's
FreedomLink network. The company also said that they had 5 million
connections in 2004, with 600,000 in October alone. Wayport had about
1,000 location at the end of 2003, and a significant subset included
in-room wired broadband hotels with Wi-Fi just in lobbies. Virtually
all new locations are Wi-Fi only in retail establishments. Dan Lowden,
vice president of marketing at Wayport, said in an interview on Monday
that Wayport believes they are now the biggest Wi-Fi network in the
U.S., having exceeded T-Mobile's count, which is just under 5,300
according to T-Mobile's location finder. (This doesn't include
T-Mobile's fee-based roaming partners.) "We're very very excited about
it; it's a big milestone for us. We're excited to be the biggest in
the United States," Lowden said. Lowden said that Wayport is adding
about 150 locations per week. They expect to exceed 6,000 McDonald's
restaurants by third quarter of 2005, pushing their total over 10,000
locations. Because certain large footprints have already been tied up,
such as many coffee chains, and because of Wayport's exclusive deal
for fast-food restaurants with McDonald's, Wayport is pushing into
different kinds of spaces and services. For instance, their deal with
Hertz gives them an alternate presence at airports. And Wayport will
work with venues that may not need public Wi-Fi at all, or it's an
adjunct to the real purpose: private services like cashless
transactions (which they're doing with McDonald's) and security.
Lowden also noted that even with the hotel market so widely built out
with high-speed services, there's still a lot of room to grow or
rebuild. "We continue to see opportunities where folks have had three
or four service providers over the last three or four years," he said.
Wayport's now an established firm with major partners making it easy
for them to bat clean up in cases such as these. The company has grown
fairly rapidly in the last year to handle the new contracts with over
330 employees now, with 150 hired in the last year....
Radio Free Wayport
Radio Free Wayport
03/14/2005 05:47 PM Wayport streams music in Austin's airport: The streaming audio
service is available to Wayport users at the Austin-Bergstrom airport
through a relationship with the Texas Music Group, which features many
local artists. The music service is free once you're connected to
Wayport's network in the airport. The timing is perfect just before
SXSW, which I'll be attending the interactive portion of....
Linux Powers Wayport
Linux Powers Wayport
02/18/2004 05:18 PMNewly liberated ex-Wayport, ex-Musenki, ex-Vivato engineer Jim
Thompson outs Wayport's hardware secret: Jim notes in his new blog
that Wayport's success is definitely partly dependent on its choice
long-ago of 802.11b (radical at the time) and Linux. Jim imagines
having to fly out and remotely fix thousands of Windows-based
authentication and billing modules when Windows viruses and worms hit
-- not a problem for Wayport because of their non-MS infrastructure.
Jim was CTO at Wayport for several years, and his work at Musenki led
to the bridging box that Vivato sells now....
Wayport to be Replaced at SeaTac
Wayport to be Replaced at SeaTac
02/10/2004 02:40 AMThe new Wi-Fi network that AT&T Wireless is building at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will replace the existing network
which is owned and operated by Wayport: Wayport appeared unaware of
the new network or the impending cancellation of its relationship with
the airport. The airport will own the network that AT&T Wireless
is building and AT&T Wireless isn't charging the airport for the
equipment or installation. The Wi-Fi network comes for free as part of
AT&T Wireless's contract to install cellular equipment that will
improve cell coverage inside the airport. Airport officials have not
decided who will operate the new Wi-Fi network but they are clear
about the future of Wayport's network. "Wayport will depart," said Bob
Parker, a SeaTac spokesman. Wayport has operated the network at SeaTac
for over four years. Its contract ended last year and since then it
has been on a month-to-month contract with the airport. "Wayport owns
those hotspots. We imagine they will come in and remove them," said
John Faulkner, aviation business manager for SeaTac. He hopes that the
Wayport network can be shut down at a time that will correspond with
the completion of the new network to avoid a breech of service. The
new network should be finished by early 2005, though an AT&T
Wireless spokesman said he expects it to be completed before then.
Wayport seemed unaware of the changes taking place at SeaTac. "We know
they're talking to AT&T. We haven't heard anything official," said
Dan Lowden, vice president of marketing for Wayport. "We look to
continue to work with SeaTac in the way we are." Wayport could be in
the running to operate the new network, though it's more likely that
if Wayport is involved in the future network it would be through
roaming deals with the company that ultimately will operate the
network, Faulkner said. As part of the request for proposals to build
the cellular and Wi-Fi networks, the airport gave participants the
option of bidding on the Wi-Fi operations business as well. AT&T
Wireless was one of the bidders that expressed interest in operating
the network but the airport has not yet decided who will operate the
network. "We want to do the business planning to figure out how to
parcel out the network and structure the revenue model," Faulkner
said. SeaTac wasn't unhappy with the service from Wayport but the
decision to build a cellular network...
Wayport Progress Report
Wayport Progress Report
01/09/2004 09:52 PMWayport has built Wi-Fi networks in over 800 locations, including
35,000 hotel rooms: The company has an additional 20,000 hotel rooms
sold, soon to be built. In the last six months of 2003, Wayport logged
a 113 percent increase in customer connections--defined as sessions of
unlimited use in one location--over the same time frame a year
earlier. Wayport's revenues for the fourth quarter 2003 grew 87
percent over the same quarter in 2002....
Free Times for Wayport Users
Free Times for Wayport Users
12/11/2003 04:47 PMWayport subscribers get full downloads of the electronic edition of
The New York Times: This partnership with NewsStand provides
Wayporters with the all-in-one edition, which is essentially the print
version as an electronic document. Folks who subscribe to the
electronic Times get a $25 Wayport prepaid card, which is probably
three sessions....
McDonald’s selects Wayport to serve up
Wi-Fi
McDonald’s selects Wayport to serve up
Wi-Fi
04/13/2004 04:52 PMMcDonald’s tapped Wayport to serve as its nationwide Wi-Fi service
provider in a four-year contract covering its 13,000 U.S. outlets.
Wayport Bags Golden Arches
Wayport Bags Golden Arches
04/13/2004 11:20 AMWayport will unwire 13,000 McDonald's: Wayport, one of the very
earliest and longest-lasting Wi-Fi hotspot operators, has reportedly
become the sole contractor to provide Wi-Fi service in 13,000
McDonald's. The company's CEO is quoted saying that they would add
service in up to 3,000 stores this year. Wayport recently snagged The
UPS Store contract as well, which involves thousands of stores in the
U.S. The service will cost $2.95 for two hours, a substantial discount
over most similar pay-as-you-go plans in the U.S. and Europe,
significantly below the closest comparable large domestic network,
T-Mobile HotSpot, which charges $6 per hour (one-hour minimum) or $10
per day. Cometa Networks and a Toshiba division were also in trials
with McDonald's. Cometa recently lost its largest reseller partner,
AT&T Wireless, for reasons that weren't disclosed, even as it signed
up Barnes & Nobles's several hundred U.S. locations. Toshiba's product
always seemed to be a strange play for a company with little Wi-Fi
strategy; more of a turnkey-hotspot product than a network plan. None
of the articles on the McDonald's deal mention the impact on
McDonald's own operations. Back in July 2003, a McDonald's executive
mentioned how important the full gestalt of Wi-Fi might be the
company: providing them with the ability to have wireless
point-of-sale components, offer reduced-price access to staff (thus
reducing employee turnover), and letting district managers and
contractors have inexpensive access....
Wayport adds free NY Times downloads
Wayport adds free NY Times downloads
12/11/2003 03:42 PMWayport Brings Wi-fi Wireless Internet
Access To 6,500 Oakwood Apartments
Wayport Brings Wi-fi Wireless Internet
Access To 6,500 Oakwood Apartments
09/19/2004 11:08 PMWi-Fi Technology Forum Sep 20 2004 2:12AM GMT
Wayport To provide Wi-Fi Wireless
Internet Access For Handlery Hotels
Wayport To provide Wi-Fi Wireless
Internet Access For Handlery Hotels
07/14/2004 03:21 PMWi-Fi Technology Forum Jul 14 2004 6:57PM GMT
Hotspot Camera
Hotspot Camera
01/05/2005 06:47 PM Did Kodak just build 802.1X into a camera? Kodak will release a
camera in June that can upload photos via T-Mobile hotspots. The
software to enable this uploading isn't due until fall, for some
reason. The new Easyshare-One sounds like a combination of Apple iPod
Photo, PDA functionality (for wireless and previewing), and digital
camera. It comes with a trial for using T-Mobile's service. I'm
guessing that this camera's fall software release will leverage the
802.1X authentication that T-Mobile has added to its North American
venues. 802.1X is both simple and hard. If Kodak preloads unique
accounts, or allows people to set this up through PC or camera back
software, there's very little complexity. The 802.1X supplicant in the
camera can manage the connection. The camera will retail for $600 plus
$100 for the optional Wi-Fi card. Terms of the free trial service and
monthly pricing are yet to be determined. It's a direct shot across
the bow at cellular operators who are offering poor upload speeds on
their high-speed network. Given that T-Mobile has articulated a long
delay in their 3G rollout plans and don't want to clog their GPRS
networks, this seems like a perfect symbiosis for Kodak and
T-Mobile....
How to Become a Hotspot Guide
How to Become a Hotspot Guide
04/23/2004 08:23 PMLooking to become a hotspot? Jiwire has published an in-depth guide:
There's no question we get more frequently at Wi-Fi Networking News
than from individual venues or small chains of locations that want to
install Wi-Fi service but don't know quite how to start or how to
evaluate offerings. This Jiwire piece offers very specific advice and
direction on making primary decisions--free or fee? on your own or in
a network? turnkey or solutions provider?--and then who to turn to....
New UK Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder
New UK Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder
01/09/2004 09:52 PMFirstly, i would like to say "Happy New Year".
Anyway, this
posting is because i have made a new UK Hotspot finder site that finds
the nearest Wi-Fi Hotspots (Commercial and Free) to your
postcode.
At the moment, Wi-Fish.com (the name of the site)
is UK-Only because of the search algorhythm...
SBC is Hotspot Hero?
SBC is Hotspot Hero?
07/26/2004 12:37 PMThey're late to the game, but they're ready to party: It's a funny
thing. When SBC Communications first announced their FreedomLink plans
last year with plans build 6,000 hotspots over a couple of years, it
seemed like yet another announcement of large numbers with no track
record. Cometa was still on its 20,000 hotspots prediction and had
only a handful. McDonald's hadn't decided its partner and was in
limited trials. Wayport seemed stuck on hotels. And T-Mobile stayed
focused--as it still does--on a few ubiquitous chains. In the space of
a few months, SBC has moved from last man in, to practically first
mover. Let's review: The UPS Store. They will install Wi-Fi in
thousands of UPS Store outlets, which are places that business people
already congregate. This will probably also necessitate a change of
thinking for that mailing and business operation so that they can make
it easier for people to work for periods of time in their stores.
Wayport managed services. They hired Wayport to build out their
FreedomLink locations instead of creating a new division with no
experience in house. Wayport's Wi-Fi World and McDonald's. They're the
first telco to sign up to resell Wayport's McDonald's network, which
will ultimately be several thousand stores over the next couple of
years. Wayport/McDonald's supplier. They're also providing DSL and
other connectivity to many of the McDonald's that Wayport is
disconnected, which is part revenue, part branding for them as part of
the Wi-Fi World co-marketing model Wayport is pursuing. Airports,
airports, airports. They have roaming agreements now for their
FreedomLink users onto Concourse, Wise, Wayport, and (reportedly)
Sprint PCS's airport locations. There are only a handful of major
airports not represented by those networks: SFO and Boston Logan are
the two that come to mind. Pushing Wi-Fi into homes. SBC is selling
3,000 Wi-Fi routers a day to their home DSL users. This will drive
adoption by their users of Wi-Fi. People without Wi-Fi will buy
adapters or new systems because of the ease of sharing. Pushing
hotspots subscriptions to their DSL subscribers. It's a coming, and
it's going to be good--SBC keeps saying in its press releases that
they will offer FreedomLink at a substantial discount to their DSL
subscribers. $10 per month for unlimited use? $8? $15? Who knows. But
it's an audience they've already got and they can offer them
nationwide service with several thousand locations...
Hotspot Helper
Hotspot Helper
01/16/2004 11:01 AMMediaTracker is offering a low-cost way for venues to manage their
hotspots: The management software, ControlAP, costs $149 and can
support several platforms and both external APs plugged into a
computer or an internal wireless card. Because the software is Java
based, it can be run from a handheld with a wireless card. "It's a
do-it-yourself mechanism to control hotspots," said Dario Laverde,
MediaTracker's founder. "The initial target is cafes and small store
fronts." The software enables a captive portal Web page where end
users can sign in or see a welcome page if the hot spot is free. For
now, a cafe may decide to offer 30 minutes of free use, then require
customers to approach the counter where they pay the barista for
additional use. A cafe could also ask customers to buy another coffee
in exchange for additional use rather than set a price based on time,
Laverde suggested. An employee authorizes additional use from a
computer behind the counter where the ControlAP software can be
integrated with existing point-of-sale software. The next version of
ControlAP will support credit card billing. The software logs traffic
and allows a cafe to block URLs or users by MAC address. It can be
used to manage wired connections, too, so a cafe that may have some
wired computers available for customers can manage those together with
users of the Wi-Fi network from the same tool. Laverde says that
thousands of people have downloaded the free version of the software,
which is meant to serve as a trial version because it limits
simultaneous users to five and offers stripped-down features. The full
version of the software was just introduced this week. MediaTracker
isn't alone in the market chasing independent cafes that don't want to
partner with any of the larger hotspot operators, but it does offer
some unique differences from its competitors. Surf and Sip, for
example, offers a hosted hotspot management solution that either costs
$50 per month if the hotspot is free for users, or 25 percent of
profits for a paid location. Sputnik offers a robust solution for
managing hotspots but is designed for the small to medium-sized
hotspot operator that has multiple locations. AirPath Wireless also
offers a hotspot management solution but seems to be targeting larger
hot spot operators--Sprint uses AirPath's solution. NoCatAuth is also
an option but appropriate mostly for technical folks....
A Hotspot on Every Corner
A Hotspot on Every Corner
07/29/2004 08:25 PMDetails are sketchy, but New York City may allow six telecom firms to
pay up to $25 million per year to install wireless transmitters on
18,000 lamp posts: The article is full of sturm und drang about health
effects, but the real story is that the city is trying to counter its
dead zones without tearing up the streets. It's unclear precisely what
kind of transmitters these will be, but you can bet your boppy that
the goal will be wireless backhaul for the majority of the points
using mesh or simple point-to-point. This endeavor could bring
massively improved voice, 2.5G/3G cell data, and Wi-Fi into a city
without ripping up all the roads once again or putting giant cell
antennas on every last building. The companies include well-known and
never-heard-of-'em: the New York Post says they are two cellular
providers, Nextel and T-Mobile, three non-cellular companies,
ClearLinx Network Corp., Crown Castle Solutions, and Dianet
Communications. The sixth, IDT Business Services, will provide
telephone service via the Internet. [link via GigaOm]...
Put a Hotspot Search on Your Page
Put a Hotspot Search on Your Page
11/04/2003 12:52 AMLike what you see at left? You can have it, too: The JIWIRE hotspot
locator can be added in one of two dimensions to your page by
following the link....
free hotspot lambeth rd se1
free hotspot lambeth rd se1
02/10/2004 03:00 AMas said before by others, bought 11g network card, plugged it in, free
access. around junction of kennington rd & lambeth rd, lambeth se1
Coming Soon to a Wireless Hotspot Near
You: Ads
Coming Soon to a Wireless Hotspot Near
You: Ads
05/03/2004 12:26 PMNorth Pole Gets Wi-Fi Hotspot
North Pole Gets Wi-Fi Hotspot
04/15/2005 08:43 PMOregon Gets Biggest Hotspot
Oregon Gets Biggest Hotspot
02/10/2004 02:40 AMIt's always worrisome to qualify networks as the "biggest" but in this
case I'd bet that eastern Oregon really does have the biggest hotspot
in the country: Yesterday, Boardman and Hermiston, Ore. turned on a
600-square-mile hotspot. The network came about through a
public/private initiative and was built by EZ Wireless. The network
will be used by the Morrow County Emergency Management and Chemical
Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, the police force, and
citizens. Initially, it will cover 600 square miles which includes
four counties and seven cities, some in Washington. The second phase,
which should be complete this summer, will add another seven cities.
The press release isn't online and any news organizations in the area
either don't post the stories online or require subscriptions from
visitors wanting to read the stories online....
Grok Description matches for Wayport wins McDonald's hotspot gig
GrokA matches for Wayport wins McDonald's hotspot gig
Wayport wins McDonald's hotspot gig
