Boingo is one of the last remaining major independent hot-spot providers: The company has more than 211,000 Wi-Fi access points in over 100 countries. It had 191,000 subscribers paying a monthly fee to use Boingo hot spots at the end of September 2010 and, in 2009, the company counted more than 800 million visits to its Boingo access points worldwide, including pay-as-you-go connections.
Boingo has 125 telecom operators amongst its customers, while a number of hardware makers have incorporated its software in their phones and other devices.
Why this matters Even with the rise of 4G broadband technologies, many mobile carriers still see Wi-Fi off-load as an important part of the strategy for stopping data traffic overloads on their networks.
For instance, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) CTO John Donovan said last week that its hot-spot network -- acquired when it bought Wayport -- now gets 20 million connections a week. (See AT&T Claims to Be a Femtocell Big Spender.)
Additionally, Boingo is not the only mobile-related IPO slated for this week. The Chinese mobile security firm NetQin Mobile Inc. plans to make an offering this Thursday, according to the Nasdaq IPO Summary.
For more See more on Boingo:
- Boingo Preps $75M IPO
- Amazon May Target Netflix With Streaming Tilt
- This Week in WiMax
- Phones Go Boingo
— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile
I wonder if consumers will still be as willing to pay for Wi-Fi subscriptions in the future. As carrier-managed networks become more widespread, I bet Wi-Fi built into the wireless bill will be more common, making direct-to-consumer routes a tougher business.