Devicescape, iPass partner on 50M Wi-Fi hot spot network
Wi-Fi service providers iPass and Devicescape joined Wi-Fi networks to create a global network of some 50 million hot spots, which the companies and industry watchers are calling the world’s largest Wi-Fi network.
Wi-Fi evangelist and telecom industry analyst Claus Hetting said, “As far as I know, [this is] the biggest Wi-Fi network in the world. We’ll be following this very closely and carefully to see what these two companies are going to be doing with this huge network.”
Gary Griffiths, CEO of iPass, said the network could help advance ubiquitous connectivity as well as support “Internet of Things” networks.
“With the launch of the iPass Unlimited Wi-Fi service in April, we opened up the opportunity to be everywhere,” Griffiths said. “On our first quarter 2015 earnings call in May, I promised to double our global Wi-Fi footprint by the end of this year. With today’s partnership with Devicescape, and other network partnerships … we in fact will have more than doubled our presence by the end of this quarter. Coupled with our developing product features offering invisible connectivity, our alliance with Devicescape is significant not only in moving iPass customers closer to ubiquitous connectivity, but also in setting the stage for global Wi-Fi accessibility for the Internet of Things.”
Devicescape uses a curated virtual network, which uses cloud-based machine learning to provide network location information, access and quality control in real time.
Devicescape CEO Dave Fraser said the new network allows for access “on a truly extraordinary scale. We are thrilled to be contributing our curated virtual network to an undertaking of such ambition. We look forward to working with iPass to take this network well past what is already a very significant milestone.”
In his comments, Griffiths also previewed continued plans for expansion.
“We’re proud to soon be able to offer our customers access to over 50 million hot spots around the globe,” Griffiths said. “With a global population of over 7 billion data-hungry people, and estimates of over 28 billion smart devices in use by 2020, seamless global connectivity delivered via standard format and user experience will be fundamental. We’re only getting started.”
