The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has awarded a seven-year, US$5.9m concession agreement to Boingo Wireless, to upgrade, manage, operate and market the wi-fi network at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Passengers will continue to receive 45 minutes of free advertising-supported wi-fi service, but at speeds that are four times faster than the present service.
Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the operator for LAX, said, “Our new wi-fi agreement and planned upgrades will keep LAX on the cutting edge of wireless technologies, and ensure that we’re offering our guests access to one of the fastest airport wireless networks in the nation. Today, we provide free wi-fi access to more than one million travelers each month. We look forward to ensuring that all guests have unlimited free access to our state-of-the-art network.”
Nick Hulse, president at Boingo Wireless, said, “LAWA has an unwavering commitment to exceptional customer service and technological innovation. LAX is the gateway to Silicon Beach and we’re proud to deliver one of the fastest airport wi-fi networks in the country.”
Under the new agreement, Boingo Wireless will make significant investments to upgrade existing networks to enable tiered wi-fi at speeds from five Mbps (megabits/second) up to 20 Mbps. In addition to 45 minutes of free wi-fi, travelers can also choose to pay for Boingo’s unlimited premium service at 10 Mbps and 20 Mbps.