CLEVELAND –(Business Wire)– July 23, 2004 SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC) today announced that SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi service has launched at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, increasing the service’s rapidly growing nationwide availability.
During a special event at the airport, Cleveland Mayor Jane L. Campbell welcomed the FreedomLink service, which will be available at all gates, ticket counters and baggage claim areas through more than 30 Wi-Fi Internet access points. The SBC FreedomLink service enables customers to use laptop computers and personal digital assistants to wirelessly connect to the Internet and corporate networks at speeds 50 to 100 times faster than a dial-up connection.
“In providing this service to our customers we further solidify Hopkins’ position as one of the top airports in our nation,” said John C. Mok, director of port control. “We applaud SBC for making this possible without expense to the airport.”
“We are delighted to add Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to our FreedomLink Wi-Fi network,” said Lauren McCadney, SBC assistant vice president for Wi-Fi market strategy. “Travelers will immediately benefit by using our affordable and reliable Wi-Fi service here and at more than 2,000 other locations nationwide.”
FreedomLink service will also be available on Neptune Networks kiosks throughout the airport, for those travelers who don’t have a computer with them. Neptune Networks and SBC companies worked together to equip all areas of the airport with Wi-Fi service.
Adding Cleveland Hopkins to the FreedomLink network will further diversify the types of locations where the service is available and will make the service even more appealing to a broad cross-section of business professionals and consumers, including business travelers, mobile workers, college students, and the more than 4.3 million SBC DSL Internet access customers.
Monthly SBC FreedomLink memberships are available for $19.95 and provide unlimited access to all FreedomLink hot spots. Daily sessions are also available for $7.95 and provide unlimited access to FreedomLink hot spots for a 24-hour period.
In addition to airports that are already part of the FreedomLink network, FreedomLink customers can access discounted Wi-Fi service through roaming agreements with other providers at other major airports.
The agreements follow other major steps the company has taken to make SBC FreedomLink service more widely available, including making it possible for FreedomLink customers to access Wi-Fi at many McDonald’s restaurants and The UPS Store locations nationwide.
Later this year, FreedomLink service will be bundled with SBC Yahoo! DSL and offered at a significant discount to SBC Yahoo! DSL subscribers, further enhancing the value and benefits of their broadband service. In addition, SBC sales organizations will offer monthly memberships in bulk to enterprise customers who wish to use the power of Wi-Fi to improve employee productivity.
The FreedomLink service is part of an integrated effort to meet customer demand for a comparable broadband experience in the home, office or on the road. To meet this goal, SBC companies plan to make available more than 20,000 Wi-Fi hot spots to FreedomLink customers by the end of 2006 and work with Cingular Wireless to utilize Wi-Fi and Cingular’s wireless network to deliver unprecedented coverage that enables customers to enjoy a comparable broadband experience at home, in the office and on the road.
SBC companies are conditioning the market for the FreedomLink Wi-Fi service by driving adoption of private wireless local area networks (LANs) in enterprises and in the home. SBC companies are selling more than 3,000 home Wi-Fi gateways a day to SBC Yahoo! DSL customers who wish to set up a wireless LAN in their home.
Customers can view a list of FreedomLink locations and obtain ordering information by visiting http://www.sbc.com/FreedomLink.
FreedomLink(SM)wireless connection to the Internet provided by SBC Internet Services. SBC, the SBC logo, FREEDOMLINK(SM) and the FREEDOMLINK(SM) logo are trademarks or service marks of SBC Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (C) 2004 SBC Knowledge Ventures, L.P. All rights reserved.
SBC Communications Inc. is a Fortune 50 company whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves 25 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and are among the nation’s leading providers of Internet services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service. Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is available at http://www.sbc.com.
SBC Communications Inc.
Dana Tuerk, 216-928-3476
dtuerk@sbcnews.us