Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) already has nearly 35,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and is part of the Cable WiFi Alliance, but the company just expanded its reach even further by inking an alliance with Boingo Wireless. The deal gives TWC customers access to more than 100 premium Boingo locations, including 23 airports and 36 subway platforms. The agreement also gives Boingo customers access to all TWC hotspots.
Both companies are also part of the Wireless Broadband Alliance and are currently participating in a next-generation hotspot trial that will give Passpoint-enabled devices the ability to connect seamlessly and securely.
Time Warner Cable has been aggressively growing its Wi-Fi hotspot portfolio as a way to complement its customers' broadband service in the home. In an interview in April with FierceWirelessTech, Rob Cerbone, Time Warner Cable's vice president of wireless products, said that the company is aggressively deploying Wi-Fi as a way to retain home broadband customers. "We believe we're definitely seeing a benefit for the customers that are using Wi-Fi versus the ones that don't," he said, adding that the company is content to be doing this and is not planning to launch a mobile virtual network operator using the Wi-Fi network, at least not in the near-term.
TWC is currently embroiled in a $45 billion acquisition bid from Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA). The deal, which could be consummated by year's end if approved by regulators, would combine TWC's nearly 35,000 hotspots with Comcast's Wi-Fi hotspot portfolio, which is expected to top 8 million by year-end.
For more:
- see this press release
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