BT Openzone opens up world of Wi-Fi

Irish BT Openzone customers can now enjoy Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) access in more than 20,000 hotspots around the world.

BT Openzone subscribers can now log on in more than 11 countries to enjoy consistent, wireless broadband internet access.

Following a series of new roaming agreements with four international wireless operators, the announcement was made at an industry seminar in San Francisco held by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), of which BT is a member.

This significant global roaming agreement builds on BT Openzone’s agreements with T-Mobile (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, UK, US), The Cloud (UK), Telia Homerun (Sweden), Sonera Homerun (Finland) and Airpath (US).

BT Openzone customers will be able to benefit from this extended Wi-Fi access at no additional charge through the remainder of 2004.

“Joining forces with other operators to make hotspots available to all is critical to the future of Wi-Fi,” said Bill Murphy, chief executive officer, Esat BT.

“This agreement with members of the WBA will help break down the barrier of hotspot locations being linked to particular providers and ensures that our customers benefit from the geographical strengths of all five operators.

“We offer our customers access to all their applications and information, wherever they are."

Kyong Yu, chairman of the WBA said: “This announcement redefines the way international travellers will stay connected.

For the first time, the customers of our carriers will be able to roam throughout the world with one Wi-Fi account.

These roaming arrangements set the standard for a uniform and consistent approach to global roaming that should help drive widespread adoption of Wi-Fi.”