Wireless Industry’s First Passpoint Roaming Integration Enables Seamless, Secure Wi-Fi Access in High-Traffic Locations Throughout United States
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES – Dec. 17, 2014 – Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Boingo Wireless today announced that Passpoint roaming access is now available to their subscribers, marking the launch of the first reciprocal Passpoint roaming agreement in the world. Qualified TWC Internet customers and Boingo subscribers can seamlessly connect to secure WiFi networks at thousands of locations, including 25 of the highest traffic airports in the U.S.
Boingo subscribers can access thousands of Time Warner Cable’s Passpoint-enabled hotspots in cities including New York, Austin and Kansas City, with Passpoint roaming access launching in additional cities including Los Angeles and Charlotte in early 2015. Boingo customers already have access to TWC’s more than 60,000 hotspots in major cities across the U.S., per the roaming partnership launched earlier this year.
Timed to the holiday travel season, TWC residential Internet customers with Standard Service and above and all TWC Business Services Internet customers can now seamlessly roam on to Boingo’s “Passpoint Secure” WiFi networks at 25 of the highest traffic airports in the U.S., including Chicago’s O’Hare International (ORD), Los Angeles International (LAX), Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS), and New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark Liberty International (EWR) airports.
The Passpoint roaming functionality allows customers with Passpoint-certified devices and account credentials to experience seamless, secure connections between the two networks with no action needed on their part, simplifying the roaming connectivity experience during holiday travel and day-to-day mobile device use. TWC and Boingo’s Passpoint-enabled hotspots feature powerful WPA2 enterprise-grade encryption technology, providing enhanced security on the go. For the customer, this roaming experience is similar to how cellular networks roam today.
“Passpoint technology provides significant value to our customers. Our Passpoint roaming integration with Boingo will keep our users connected to this advanced technology during their travels, helping us provide maximum wireless security to our TWC Internet consumers when they’re surfing the Internet out of home,” said Rob Cerbone, VP of Wireless Product Management for Time Warner Cable.
“The launch of reciprocal Passpoint roaming in the U.S. marks a significant milestone for the wireless industry, but more importantly it makes the best possible WiFi connectivity experience available to even more customers in key locations throughout the U.S.,” said Dr. Derek Peterson, Boingo Wireless Chief Technology Officer. “Our partnership with TWC gives our customers truly widespread access to simple, seamless and secure WiFi in key markets nationwide.”
To access Boingo’s Passpoint-enabled and TWCWiFi-Passpoint networks, TWC customers should download the TWC WiFi Finder app from the Apple App Store, which will then allow them to provision a Passpoint profile on their iOS device. Their applicable device will then be able to connect seamlessly to TWCWiFi-Passpoint and Boingo “Passpoint Secure” networks.
Boingo customers who wish to access the Boingo “Passpoint Secure” and “TWCWiFi-Passpoint” networks can download a Passpoint profile at https://passpoint.boingo.com for their iOS or Macintosh device. They can then seamlessly and securely connect at Boingo and TWC Passpoint network locations.
Both companies are members of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, and have been active participants in Passpoint standards development and Next Generation Hotspot trials.