MADRID -- Madrid-based Gowex – the $900m company already powering wireless smart cities and WiFi networks in more than 80 cities worldwide – has announced a new initiative to merge public and private access WiFi services from mobile operators and businesses to create seamless mobile data coverage for consumers.

Called We-2, the new service will launch next month in New York with an initial network of more than 2000 WiFi hotspots across the City with plans to further expand aggressively across the busiest corridors of Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx.

Going forward, the company said it plans to create We-2 merged WiFi hotspot networks in more than 300 cities by 2020.

Announcing the service, Carlos Gomez Vendrell, CEO We-2, said: “We are offering easy access to almost city wide mobile data for consumers, we are giving operators the chance to improve mobile data access for the customers and offload traffic from congested networks, and we are creating a valuable new promotional service for businesses that join our network and share their WiFi capability. Everybody wins.”

In New York, the service will initially launch with support from the New York City Economic Development Corporation which is backing Mayor Bloomberg’s drive to turn the City into a “Technology Hub”. The Corporation will be helping Gowex expand its own WiFi hotspot networks in key locations across the five Boroughs.

“We are speaking with operators and offering them the chance to get on Board now and expand their mobile data network coverage today at virtually no cost. By offering their customers the We-2 service in New York, I believe they would increase their city centre data coverage at least fivefold,” said Vendrell.

“We-2 is not a substitute for building hi-speed city centre 4G networks,” Vendrell added, “but it is a solution to a congestion problem today, and will happily live alongside the networks of the future as demand for mobile data coverage continues to explode.”

Vendrell also explained the company’s concept of “social WiFi networks”. By allowing consumers to use business and retail unit WiFi networks as part of the We-2 service, Vendrell said companies would be able to create relevant offers and promotions for nearby users through permission based marketing and data capture.

“There is more than one business model in the We-2 service – which means that Gowex, the operators, and the businesses that share their networks, all have the opportunity to generate a return on the investment. The biggest winner though is the consumer,” he added, “with seamless WiFi access through one network on a city-wide basis.”

Gowex