BOARD OF AIRPORT COMMISSIONERS AWARDS CONTRACT TO BOINGO WIRELESS FOR FREE, FASTER WI-FI SERVICE FOR AIRPORT GUESTS
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today awarded a seven-year, $5.9-million concession agreement to Boingo Wireless, Inc., to upgrade, manage, operate and market the Wi-Fi network at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Airport guests will continue to receive 45 minutes of free advertising-supported Wi-Fi service, but at speeds more than four times faster than today, placing LAX among the top five airports in the U.S.
“Our new Wi-Fi agreement and planned upgrades will keep LAX on the cutting edge of wireless technologies, and ensure that we’re offering our guests access to one of the fastest airport wireless networks in the nation,” said Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey. “Today, we provide free Wi-Fi access to more than one million travelers each month. We look forward to ensuring that all guests have unlimited free access to our state-of-the-art network.”
“Los Angeles World Airports has an unwavering commitment to exceptional customer service and technological innovation,” said Nick Hulse, president of Boingo Wireless, headquartered in Los Angeles. “LAX is the gateway to Silicon Beach and we’re proud to deliver one of the fastest airport Wi-Fi networks in the country.”
Under the new agreement, Boingo Wireless will make significant investments to upgrade existing networks to enable tiered Wi-Fi at speeds from five Mbps (megabits per second) up to 20 Mbps. Boingo’s network design will enhance the guest experience while supporting the latest wireless standards. In addition to 45 minutes of free Wi-Fi provided at a minimum speed of five Mbps, travelers can also choose to access Boingo’s unlimited, premium tiers of for-pay service at 10 Mbps and 20 Mbps. The contract also calls for an annual review and upgrades to the service based on industry trends to keep the network among the fastest in the nation.
Over 30 percent of LAX’s 35.3 million enplaning passengers access the current free Wi-Fi service while waiting for their flights. Additional users include meeters-and-greeters waiting for arriving passengers and other airport visitors. Passengers will be able to access the free Wi-Fi network at the new five Mbps speed to retrieve e-mail and browse the Internet more quickly. Two levels of unlimited service at 10 Mbps and 20 Mbps, which will allow faster downloads of video and content streaming, will be available to users for a fee. Boingo subscription account holders will receive automatic access to the premium service without having to view any advertisements. Also, Boingo’s agreements with telecommunication providers will allow qualifying mobile device users to automatically connect to the premium service using seamless, secure Wi-Fi Passpoint technology.
Subject to approval by the Los Angeles City Council, the new concession agreement is scheduled to take effect June 26, 2015.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the fifth busiest airport in the world and second in the United States. LAX served nearly 70.7 million passengers in 2014. LAX offers 692 daily nonstop flights to 85 cities in the U.S. and 928 weekly nonstop flights to 67 cities in 34 countries on 59 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with over two million tons of air cargo valued at nearly $96.3 billion. An economic study in 2011 reported that operations at LAX generated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County with labor income of $13.6 billion and economic output of more than $39.7 billion. This activity added $2.5 billion to local and state revenues. LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
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