AT&T acquires Wayport's WiFi hotspots

[AppleChic]

AT&T has acquired WiFi provider Wayport for $275 million in cash. This adds thousands of new wireless hotspots to the company's network … and the best part is that it was recently opened to free access by iPhone users!

AT&T now has 20,000 access points in the US and 80,000 internationally (however, these figures also include roaming locations run by partner networks). Just a few of Wayport's network includes hotspots at McDonalds, Four Seasons hotels, HealthSouth, and Sun Healthcare locations adding to AT&T’s list of major hotspots that include Starbucks, Barnes and Noble book stores, and many major airports across the country. AT&T has a interactive new map up of their WiFi hot spots.

AT&T had been working with Wayport on a contractual basis to run its existing WiFi network, but representatives say the acquisition will allow it to expand its capabilities as it brings all management of WiFi infrastructure in house.

The acquisition along with the announcement of a tethering plan, will give iPhone users a lot more options to connect, similar to the plan AT&T already has in place for its Blackberry subscribers.


Source: AppleInsider | AT&T acquires Wayport's WiFi hotspots

[mrtonyyx]

do you need to login with your AT&T number or what? cuhs i have T-Mobile and I'm willing to take advantage of free wifi without logging in to their network!

[xattica]

Hummmm...AT&T also acquired Centennial for $994MM.

[Reako]

Yeah you have to login through AT&T.

Reako

[mrrom92]

well this is just ******* great

after leaving my 2 iphones connected to the wayport wifi on a carnival cruise ship, i walked off the boat with 2000 dollars worth of internet charges alone. now its free. what the hell can i do about that money?

[Acidlump]

well this is just ******* great

after leaving my 2 iphones connected to the wayport wifi on a carnival cruise ship, i walked off the boat with 2000 dollars worth of internet charges alone. now its free. what the hell can i do about that money?

forget about it

[sziklassy]

Is this part of the new ATT wifi at starbucks? If so, the wifi access I get at the Ames, IA startbucks is hardly internet at all. I would almost rather use edge...

[JCip]

With the new wifi hotspots, can a jailbroke iphone using T-mobile use these spots? Oh I wish our phones were as open and free as those in Europe and Asia.
Also, I saw an app for a broken iphone to use the Edge on T-mobile, if you pay for the service. Does this Edge allow one to surf the internet without wifi?

[jonathanp2008]

nice

[caliplaymate]

wayport frustrates me....but oh hay yay!