EarthLink broadens its Wi-Fi net

EarthLink on Monday announced a deal with Boingo Wireless designed to help the ISP expand its Wi-Fi service offering.

The multiyear agreement will let the 5 million subscribers of EarthLink's TotalAccess service roam into Boingo Wi-Fi networks, the companies said. Additionally, EarthLink will integrate Boingo software into its own offering, to allow Wi-Fi access and connection management to its subscribers. The deal builds on a partnership the two companies entered into in 2002.

Boingo's software, in addition to letting users access Boingo's global network of hot spots, features Wi-Fi signal sniffing capabilities, secure network login and connection management.

EarthLink isn't the first company to tap Boingo's resources. Last year, MCI signed up with Boingo to expand its Wi-Fi footprint. Additionally, more and more ISPs are signing deals that let their subscribers access the Net wirelessly from public places such as hotels, airport lobbies and business centers.

"Our customers are increasingly mobile, and to meet their needs we plan to be very aggressive in offering wireless services, and Wi-Fi is an important element of this," Brent Cobb, vice president of EarthLink, said in a statement. "Working with Boingo gives us all of the pieces--the software and the network--so that Wi-Fi becomes a natural component of the EarthLink experience."

Boingo founder and CEO Sky Dayton also founded Earthlink, and he currently serves as chairman of the board of the ISP.