Boingo Wireless today announced it has signed a roaming agreement with Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan. The partnership expands the worldwide Boingo Roaming System by nearly 900 hot spots and marks Boingo’s first live hot spots in Taiwan.

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. is the largest telecommunications service provider in Taiwan, with more than 20 million subscribers, and offers the most comprehensive Wi-Fi network in the country.

Hot spot locations include Taipei Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport (TPE); six additional domestic airports; rail transportation terminals; and popular restaurants, including McDonalds, KFC, and local coffee shop chains.

“Taiwan is a key business hub experiencing some of the most aggressive Wi-Fi deployment in all of Asia. Chunghwa is a major player that has invested in building a quality network with plans for continued expansion, making this a very strong addition to the Boingo global network,” said Allen Pan, Boingo’s director of network strategy for Asia. “This agreement continues the rapid pace at which our Asian network is growing, with the number of Asian partners and hot spots in the Boingo Roaming System doubling over the last year.”

Taiwan metropolitan regions have extensive Wi-Fi coverage as a result of several government initiatives and the efforts of service providers like Chunghwa Telecom. Combining broad coverage with a technology-savvy population—nearly 90% of households have at least one computer—has resulted in a culture that is very conducive to extensive Wi-Fi usage and adoption of leading-edge services.

“Chunghwa is at the forefront of Wi-Fi communications in Taiwan, and it is our goal to deliver the benefits of this technology, including performance and convenience, for users across the country,” said Chen Yi-Ching, managing director, marketing department, data networking branch Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. “Our partnership with an experienced world leader such as Boingo is a valuable part of this strategic process.”

30,581 Reasons to Use Boingo

Boingo gives business travelers the best choice of Wi-Fi hot spots by combining over 30,000 locations from more than 130 leading Wi-Fi operators into one worldwide network. Boingo users can connect to any of these locations with a single Boingo account using Boingo’s free Wi-Fi client software, which combines more than 450 network names into one “Boingo Wireless” network to simplify identifying and connecting to commercial Wi-Fi networks.

Boingo also partners with service providers to allow their users to access these hot spots through its Boingo Platform Services program. The program provides partners with access to this network; customized client software; and a full suite of back-office billing, roaming, mediation, and clearinghouse services to allow them to offer their own Wi-Fi service quickly and cost effectively. To date, the company has announced Platform Services partnerships with BT Infonet, Earthlink, Fiberlink, Nextel Communications, MCI, Skype, and Telecom Italia.
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