SBC Signs Hotspot AgreementsSBC Signs Hotspot Agreements

SBC hotspots Caribou Coffee; signs roaming agreements with Concourse, Telmex, Wise Technologies, GoRemote, iPass, and Syniverse

July 20, 2004

2 Min Read

SAN ANTONIO -- SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) today announced a series of agreements that will significantly expand the Wi-Fi service coverage area for SBC FreedomLink customers and allow customers from other providers to access the extensive SBC network of Wi-Fi hot spots.

The agreement with Caribou Coffee will transform its 300 coffee shops into Wi-Fi hot spots, further expanding the SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi network by enabling customers to access the FreedomLink service at coffee houses in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

And in a move that is critical to the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi, SBC companies have formed reciprocal roaming agreements that will allow FreedomLink customers to roam onto Wi-Fi networks operated by Concourse Communications, Telmex (the company's first international roaming agreement) and Wise Technologies at reduced rates. Customers from these companies will also be able to roam onto the nearly 2,000 FreedomLink Wi-Fi hot spots. Many of the providers' hot spots are in high-traffic venues such as airports, and SBC FreedomLink customers will pay only $4 per daily session.

Beyond the three reciprocal roaming agreements, SBC companies have also signed in-bound roaming agreements with GoRemote, iPass and Syniverse Technologies, companies that offer global connectivity services, including Wi-Fi, to enterprise customers with millions of potential end users. GoRemote, iPass and Syniverse have similar agreements with other WI-Fi providers and offer their customers access to a collection of hot spots operated by third-party Wi-Fi providers. iPass operates the world's largest roaming network with access to more than 10,000 active Wi-Fi hotspots. Customers from the more than 300 wireless operators and Wi-Fi services providers worldwide that partner with Syniverse will benefit from roaming access to the FreedomLink network.

SBC Communications Inc.

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