AT&T has expanded its Wi-Fi availability in Europe through an agreement with The Cloud, one of the largest European public Wi-Fi providers.
The agreement gives AT&T customers access to more than 9,000 new Wi-Fi locations in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Nordics. Financial terms of the agreement were not released.
“The Cloud is delighted to be working with AT&T to help its customers access vital business data on the move,” says Owen Geddes, director of business development at The Cloud. “The Cloud has the largest European footprint in its field, and its extensive network coverage is ideally suited to business travelers wanting seamless hotspot access across major EU (European Union) countries.”
The agreement expands AT&T’s total global Wi-Fi service area to more than 57,000 hotspots in 83 countries.
Boingo Wireless, iPass, and Trustive are competing hotspot networks offering world-wide hotspot access at a single rate across aggregated networks. Boingo claims some 100,000 hotspots, iPass says it has 80,000 locations, while newbie Trustive claims about 23,000 locations in 63 countries.
Boingo Wireless also signed a roaming agreement with FON. FON hardware and software is used in some 130,000 Wi-Fi locations, operated by businesses and individuals.
For more news on hotpsots at the Kalamazoo Airport check WiFiNetNews.
In other news, AT&T Alascom, a subsidiary of AT&T, has announced the availability of WiMAX-based broadband Internet service for Juneau residents.
The Juneau service launch is the first in a planned statewide initiative to expand the reach of broadband Internet services in communities throughout Alaska using WiMAX technology. AT&T Alascom selected Alvarion’s IEEE 802.16e-based WiMAX solution (right) for offering extended broadband data services in urban, suburban and rural areas alike.
Residents in several Juneau neighborhoods can now choose from three AT&T Alascom High Speed Internet service packages, with downstream and upstream Internet access speeds of up to 1 Mbps. Service packages also include up to five e-mail accounts, 20MB for personal Web sites and the ability to access the Internet from multiple locations within the service’s range. Prices start at $19.95 a month.
Initial deployments of WiMAX-based technology in Aniak, Delta Junction and Petersburg paved the way for today’s expanded deployment plans, says their press release. Senator Ted Stevens may have had a lot to do with it too.
AT&T Alascom plans to expand service availability in Juneau later this year and roll out the service in additional Alaskan communities in 2008. Details on expanded rollout plans will be announced later this year.
Initial deployments of WiMAX technology in Alaska will be used to provide portable wireless broadband. As mobile WiMAX technology advances, the company will evaluate options to enable additional roaming and mobility service options for customers.
AT&T is the nation’s leading provider of DSL, with more than 13.3 million customers. The company also plans to expand the reach of broadband to customers in rural, remote or difficult-to-serve areas, tapping RUS subsidies for the service. AT&T has supported a total of 22 fixed wireless trials and limited deployments in U.S communities to date, eight of which are active commercial deployments today.
Plans for a deal between the city and MetroFi to blanket a section of downtown Anchorage with free wireless Internet fizzled just two weeks ago, reports the Anchorage Daily News. MetroFi said Anchorage city leaders were “well-informed” the company would not build the network unless the city agreed to be an “anchor tenant” for public safety or other city uses. Not so, said Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.
The Anchorage Assembly approved a tentative agreement on June 26 after MetroFi officials told members there would be no cost or risk to the city, but the final contract still had not been signed, Begich said.
Alaskans received $1.89 in federal help for every tax dollar they sent to Washington, making the state second only to New Mexico as a net beneficiary of federal largess. Whether Senator Ted Steven’s cabin, some 40 miles from Anchorage, will receive AT&T’s WiMAX service, is unknown.
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