Wayport, one of the world’s largest providers of Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) wireless and wired high-speed Internet access to mobile travelers in more than 4,700 locations including hotels, airports and premier retail brands nationwide, today announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement with The Hertz Corporation to deliver high-speed Internet access to Hertz customers at more than 50 major airport locations nationwide.
With this announcement, Hertz joins Wayport’s Wi-Fi WorldTM, designed to meet the needs of millions of mobile broadband customers who require always-on high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity at strategic and ubiquitous locations nationwide. Hertz comes on board with Wayport’s Wi-Fi WorldTM just after McDonald’s®, the world’s leading food service retailer that joined Wayport’s Wi-Fi WorldTM in April of this year.
“By teaming with Hertz as a part of Wi-Fi WorldTM, Wayport is able to take the next step in delivering ubiquitous Wi-Fi to the maximum number of customers, which gives Hertz a tremendous advantage in their market,” said Dave Vucina, CEO of Wayport, “In addition, Wayport’s neutral-host network will give our strategic roaming partners the ability to drive their collective millions of customers to Wayport-enabled Hertz, McDonald’s®, hotels, airports and other top retail brands we will bring online soon.”
With deployments scheduled for first quarter, 2005, Wayport will deliver Wi-Fi service to Hertz customers at airport rental locations nationwide.
“Hertz has always been the industry leader in innovation and providing our customers with the critical services they require,” said Claude Burgess, Senior Vice President, Technology and e-Business for Hertz. “With Wayport’s Wi-Fi WorldTM, we deliver another ‘Hertz First’ in being able to reach the maximum number of customers who find high-speed Wi-Fi wireless access as an essential part of their mobile lifestyle.”
Customers will have the advantage of getting connected prior to receiving their rental car, or while sitting in their rental car in the Hertz parking lot, allowing them to receive important email messages at the fastest speeds before their scheduled meetings and events for that day. Upon their return to the Hertz terminal, they will also be able to connect before departure, which allows Hertz to deliver the highest level of service to their customers.
Additionally, Hertz and Wayport are planning to incorporate Wayport’s extensive nationwide network of Wi-Fi hot spots at hotels, airports and McDonald’s® restaurants into the Hertz NeverLostTM on-board navigation system in Hertz rental cars, giving customers exact directions to the closest Wayport Wi-Fi location. By integrating Wayport-enabled locations into NeverLostTM, Hertz and Wayport offer the ultimate mobile connectivity experience to Hertz customers nationwide.
The agreement between The Hertz Corporation and Wayport is subject to the execution of definitive legal documentation and customary conditions.
About Wayport, Inc.:
Wayport is one of the world’s largest providers of high-speed Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) wireless and wired Internet access for mobile broadband customers in more than 3,800 locations, including nearly 800 major hotels; Wi-Fi wireless Internet access in 6 major airports: Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle-Tacoma, San Jose, Austin-Bergstrom, Oakland, Buffalo Niagara and others; 16 Laptop Lane airport business centers; McDonald’s locations in select cities; and thousands of additional hotspots including airports, coffee shops, and major retail locations available nationwide under Wayport’s agreement with SBC Communications Inc. To learn more, please visit www.wayport.net or to see locations nationwide, visit www.wayport.net/locations.
Contact Information:
For Wayport:
Amy Shields
GCI Group Public Relations
512-542-2839 Direct
512-560-8861 Cell
ashields@gcigroup.com