MCI, Boingo Ink Hotspot Roaming Agreement

The agreement between MCI and Boingo Wireless means that customers who previously could access MCI's 600 wireless hotspots now also have access to Boingo's 2,000 hotspots. In addition, in a statement MCI vowed to add another 3,000 hotspots in 2004.

The announcement came the day after a similar announcement by T-Mobile and iPass. Roaming agreements enable the users of one service to access the Internet via another service yet still receive only one bill.

Many analysts have cited the lack of roaming as a deterrent to widespread adoption of hotspots by business users. By contrast, roaming agreements have long been in place for wireless voice service, enabling users to make and receive calls in virtually any location in the U.S.

MCI also announced that its now-expanded hotspot network will be enabled to work with its Remote Access services, which allow users of PDAs to access server-based corporate data.

This story courtesy of TechWeb.