Creation of 50 million-strong Wi-Fi location network
Devicescape and Wi-Fi aggregator, iPass, have integrated their Wi-Fi hotspot networks to create a global network of 50 million Wi-Fi locations. The pair’s strategic partnership sees Devicescape’s curated virtual network (CVN) integrated into the global network offering of iPass.
The agreement underpins an initiative which, for the first time, unites substantial commercial and public Wi-Fi resources. This network integration enables iPass to deliver access on an unprecedented scale and fundamentally changes the way Wi-Fi connectivity is provided.
The CVN, a crowd-sourced network of more than 20 million Amenity Wi-Fi locations worldwide, is a highly versatile connectivity asset offering strategic benefits to a growing range of connectivity service providers, including mobile operators, MVNOs and Wi-Fi First operators.
Commercial and public Wi-Fi are viewed by some within the communications industry as competing resources, and therefore fundamentally incompatible. This initiative exposes the flaws in such thinking and emphasises the value of a service that exploits the characteristics of both, said the companies. It also reinforces the logic of extending the approach to the mobile network.
Devicescape already enables its operator customers to manage disparate network assets as a unified resource. It champions a ‘Connectivity First’ service model that allows operators to blend cellular with commercial, public and private Wi-Fi into a service that delivers whatever connectivity is best suited to the end user’s immediate circumstances — managed at all times for quality. Connectivity First puts consistency — rather than one particular technology — at the heart of the end user experience, Devicescape said.
“No single network in isolation can deliver the quality and consistency of connectivity that end users require,” said Dave Fraser, CEO, Devicescape. “We are thrilled to be contributing our Curated Virtual Network to this ambitious undertaking, not least because it is so well aligned with our Connectivity First philosophy.”
The partnership expands Devicescape’s activity in the enterprise market, in which iPass has a dominant presence, and makes a combined commercial and public Wi-Fi component available to the full range of service providers and network operators. In addition, deployment of the CVN by iPass will further accelerate expansion of the crowd-sourced network, expanding the global reach of both companies.
