WEBbeams and Boingo Partnership Broadens Wireless Internet Access

For immediate release.
August 9, 2003.
Milwaukee, WI.

WEBbeams is excited to announce its new partnership with Boingo, one of the nation’s largest hotspot aggregators. Through this new partnership WEBbeams will add a large international network to its rapidly growing coffeeshop and restaurant niche in the Midwest.

WEBbeams provides wireless Internet access to a variety of consumers, from businesspeople to college students and beyond, all from the convenience of their favorite cafés. Founded by proprietors Brian Van Lieshout and Chris Olson, WEBbeams envisions universal high-speed Internet connectivity, bringing convenience and reliability to customers who can surf at myriad locations with their wireless-enabled laptop or PDA. This is standard on new laptops. If wireless capabilities are not built into the laptop, users simply need to purchase an inexpensive Wi-Fi card. The WEBbeams network currently includes Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co., Bean Head Café, Thai Joe’s, Blue Dawg Bagels, IT Fusion Business Centers, Inc., Mocais Café, and Erbert & Gerbert’s in Milwaukee; Boulevard Café and Prairie Moon All American Dining in Chicago; Copper Rock Coffee Company and La Pomme Rouge Gallery in Appleton, Wisconsin; and Hard Drive Cafés in Menasha, Wisconsin. WEBbeams customers can choose to purchase access on a pay-per-use basis or sign up for monthly accounts. They can access additional hotspot locations throughout the nation at no additional charge through WEBbeam’s partnership with NetNearU. These locations can be found in the Locations section of WEBbeams’ Web site, www.webbeams.com.

While Van Lieshout and Olson expect the WEBbeams network to grow rapidly first throughout the Midwest and then nationally, they have partnered with Boingo to offer their customers who travel internationally the option of choosing a slightly more expensive, but much larger, wireless network through Boingo. With more than 1300 locations, the rapidly growing Boingo network includes hotspots at airports, cafés, hotels, conventions centers, and business lobbies in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom.

Major technologies companies seem to have reached a consensus in the belief that wireless connectivity will soon become a nationwide standard. Computer manufacturers including Hewlett Packard, IBM, Dell, and Apple now offer Wi-Fi capabilities in many of their laptops. PC Week magazine predicts that by 2004 more than 45 million business laptops, 2/3 of the total in use, will be Wi-Fi capable. Olson notes, “Wi-Fi connectivity is revolutionizing the way people conduct business. The convenience of widespread Wi-Fi will free people from having to do work in a conventional office. They can exchange files and check their e-mail from the comfort of their favorite café.”

For more information about WEBbeams, contact Brian Van Lieshout in Milwaukee, WI, at 262.617.2958 or brianvanlieshout@webbeams.com. Or, contact Chris Olson in Chicago, IL, at 708.261.4770 or chrisolson@webbeams.com.