LOS ANGELES – Sept. 8, 2014 – Boingo Wireless (NASDAQ: WIFI), the leading DAS and Wi-Fi provider that serves consumers, carriers and advertisers worldwide, today announced S.M.A.R.T. Networks, a revolutionary new approach to providing public Wi-Fi access in airports and other large-scale venues.
Boingo’s innovative new S.M.A.R.T network design – which stands for Secure, Multiplatform, Analytics-Driven, Responsive and Tiered – reimagines public Wi-Fi from the ground up based on usage data that identified multiple classes of users with significantly different connection and usage profiles.
“Keeping passengers satisfied is more complicated than simply offering free Wi-Fi, because consumers have very different needs when it comes to connectivity,” said Nick Hulse, president of Boingo Wireless. “The Wi-Fi needs of an occasional leisure traveler who gets online to check email or update Facebook before boarding are vastly different from those of a business traveler, who expects the airport Wi-Fi network to function as an extension of their office.”
In a typical venue, the S.M.A.R.T. Network will include three classes of services aimed at three unique user/application profiles. Complimentary Wi-Fi, supported by advertising and sponsorship, provides up to 5MB of speed for users with basic connectivity demands, such as e-mail and web browsing. A “Turbo Boost” premium tier of service, supporting speeds up to 10MB, is available for power users who want to stream media. And “Enterprise Wi-Fi,” with a super-fast 20MB of speed, is available for frequent business travelers who need the airport Wi-Fi network to function as an enterprise tool.
Boingo’s S.M.A.R.T. Networks leverage advanced, high capacity wireless network design to support multiple classes of service, improving customer satisfaction and ensuring operational efficiency, cost management and monetization opportunities for airports.
“The historic methods of designing and building networks had to be completely readdressed because of the explosion in the devices and applications available and the data consumed,” said Marc Patterson, vice president of products for Boingo Wireless. “Our new S.M.A.R.T. Networks will provide more choice and security to passengers, and enhanced network insights, responsiveness and scalability to venue owners through state-of-the-art technologies.”
S.M.A.R.T. Networks are:
Secure: All S.M.A.R.T. Networks will be Passpoint enabled, supporting WPA2 encrypted connections for some classes of service, in addition to employing security configurations that protect the core network. Boingo has been a pioneer in the deployment of Passpoint networks, a wireless industry standard that enables instant, secure Wi-Fi connectivity to those with a Passpoint profile on a supported device.
Multi-platform: Mobile devices have different activity and data consumption profiles – and one Wi-Fi network does not fit all. S.M.A.R.T. Networks are designed to optimize the Wi-Fi experience, platform-by-platform. Boingo’s classes of service help users and service providers pick the experience they desire, while the network intelligently optimizes that experience for the platform itself.
Analytics-driven: Today, understanding utilization, traffic flow and dwell time are important to managing a quality Wi-Fi network. S.M.A.R.T. Networks are location-aware, enabling venues to better serve customers with actionable business intelligence derived from historic and predictive analytics.
Responsive: Public Wi-Fi networks in large venues are complex, and network demand can vary wildly. S.M.A.R.T. Networks balance flexibility, capacity and connection performance with an adaptable network infrastructure. S.M.A.R.T. Networks continually evaluate the service being provided, ensuring that it’s delivering the defined user experience for each class of service.
Tiered: S.M.A.R.T. Networks support multiple classes of service that can be tuned for a defined user experience. The tiers of service classes create user experiences that meet the needs of casual and power users alike.
S.M.A.R.T. Networks are now available for airports worldwide, with the first installations launching by the end of the year. S.M.A.R.T. Networks will soon be available for other large-scale venues.
Boingo is the world’s leading airport Wi-Fi provider, managing services at more than 75 airports, representing more than 40% of the world’s top 50 airports. The company manages Wi-Fi services at five of the top ten highest traffic airports in the United States, including Chicago’s O’Hare International, Los Angeles International, New York’s John F. Kennedy, and Miami International.
About Boingo Wireless
Boingo Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIFI) helps the world stay connected. Our vast footprint of small cell networks cover more than a million DAS and Wi-Fi locations and reaches more than 1 billion consumers annually – in places as varied as airports, stadiums, universities, and military bases. For more information about the Boingo story, visit .
Boingo, Boingo Wireless, the Boingo Wireless Logo and Don’t Just Go. Boingo are registered trademarks of Boingo Wireless, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects” and similar references to future periods. These forward-looking statements include the quotations from management in this press release, as well as any statements regarding Boingo’s strategic plans and future guidance. Forward-looking statements are based on the company’s current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and other future conditions. Since forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. The company’s actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions, as well as other risk and uncertainties described more fully in documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including Boingo’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 filed with the SEC on March 17, 2014, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 filed with the SEC on August 11, 2014. Any forward-looking statement made by Boingo in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause the company’s actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Boingo to predict all of them. Boingo undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
