Boingo Wireless, (310) 586-5180, (800) 826-4646. www.boingo.com
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Gric Communications
Like Boingo and iPass, Gric Communications is a network aggregator and supports dial-up access, Ethernet and broadband wireless access globally. It refers to its aggregation of hotspots and other access points as a "virtual mobile broadband network" and claims to have the largest such international network in the world, which is consistent with the number of hotspot and dial-up locations it reported in its response to our RFI.
GRIC says it expects to have more than 6,000 hotspot locations available by June 1, the highest number reported by any respondent, spanning 500 cities in 31 countries. This includes more than 50 airports (with 600 hotspots), 4,000 restaurants, 1,000 hotels and 20 convention centers. Today its leading U.S. operator partners include AirPath Wireless, Pronto Networks and Wayport.
Gric's broadband pricing plans offer unlimited dial-up plus 50 hours of broadband (Wi-Fi plus Ethernet) for $49.95 per month, or 50 hours of dial-up plus 100 hours of broadband for $59.95 per month.
Gric reported that its virtual network spans more than 300 major telcos, ISPs and wireless ISPs but did not elaborate on its wireless partners. The company is a contributing member of the WiFi Alliance WISPr committee and says it supports the alliance's efforts to enable the hotspot market. Gric also plans to support seamless roaming between Wi-Fi and 2.5G/3G wireless networks.
Complementary offerings include more than 23,000 dial-up access points, ISDN access in 49 countries, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) access in Asia, Ethernet access in 580 hotels worldwide and managed VPN services.
