Wi-Fi Providers Begin To Share Access

After years of resisting, wireless Internet providers are finally striking cellphone-style roaming agreements that could eventually let customers get high-speed access anywhere they go.

Last week, telephone giant SBC said it and Sprint agreed to share their wireless Internet networks, called Wi-Fi hot spots.

Sprint customers will be able to use SBC's 1,800 hot spots nationwide. SBC customers will have access to Sprint's 12 hot spots, which are in high-traffic airports, convention centers and hotels, SBC says.

Sprint would not confirm the deal, and terms were not available.

<>Other Wi-Fi Announcement
The deal follows other recent roaming announcements. Sprint signed a number of other deals -- including one with AT&T Wireless to share six airport hot spots and another with STSN, a Wi-Fi service provider that has locations in 500 hotels.

Sprint also has deals with Wi-Fi wholesaler Wayport, with 1,000 hot spots in hotels and airports.

AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile in February signed their own three-airport roaming deal.

AT&T Wireless also has a roaming arrangement with Wayport, as does Verizon Wireless.

Dozens of Independent Networks

The deals will help Wi-Fi overcome its chief drawback: dozens of Wi-Fi service providers operating independent networks.

That means a traveler using Wi-Fi in a hotel, an airport and a coffee shop will likely have to pay three different fees and use three different logins.

Some travelers can get around the problem by using aggregator services such as Boingo Wireless, iPass or GoRemote.

These companies strike deals with many different Wi-Fi network operators, allowing subscribers to hop from network to network. But analysts say the aggregator services, most of which are designed for businesses, aren't practical for lighter users.

Aggregators also can't bundle Wi-Fi with cellphone or DSL service, as phone carriers such as SBC can.

Such telecom bundles are expected to drive much of Wi-Fi's growth in coming years.

22,000 Wi-Fi Locations Nationwide

Today, there are only about 22,000 locations with Wi-Fi nationwide, compared with near-blanket cellphone coverage in urban areas, says research firm IDC.

Without broad roaming agreements, Wi-Fi "is going to continue to languish," says Probe Research analyst Alan Mosher.

Yet, service providers have resisted working with competitors.

The deals signed so far have been small, says IDC wireless analyst Abner Germanow. No. 1 Wi-Fi carrier T-Mobile, which dominates the industry with 4,700 hot spots, has been a holdout in the USA, with the exception of its three-hot-spot swap with AT&T.

T-Mobile spokesman Brian Zidar says, "We're absolutely open to roaming, but it needs to be the right deal."

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