Brazilian telecom carrier Oi confirmed that it bought Wi-Fi company Vex for R$ 27 million (US $16.8 million). Vex operates more than 40,000 hotspots in Brazil and other countries throughout in Latin America.
Bringing Vex to Oi subscribers will allow the operator to differentiate with its mobile broadband strategy, since hotspots are located in area with high demand for data services, such as airports, hotels, restaurants and business centers. With Vex, Oi will be able to offload its 3G trafffic as well.
In the begging of 2011, other carriers – Vivo and TIM – were also in the dispute for buying Vex. By that time, acquisition was estimated to cost R$ 100 million.
Vex was founded in 2002, and it is affiliated with two major international institutes that regulate Wi-Fi: the Wi-Fi Alliance, a worldwide organization that defines best practices technology, and the WBA – Wireless broadband Alliance – a group of 40 leading broadband operators and wireless providers throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe.
Today, Vex has around 42,000 hotspots in over 50 countries, at their disposal. In Brazil, there are 1,800 access points (hotspots), distributed in 140 cities. Among some of its major clients are McDonald’s, Starbuck’s, Fran’s Café, Pestana Hotels, Airports (Infraero) and shopping centers.
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