AT&T agreed to acquire privately-held Wayport, a provider of managed Wi-Fi services, for approximately $275 million in cash.
The acquisition expands the AT&T Wi-Fi footprint to nearly 20,000 domestic hotspots, takes the company’s global Wi-Fi presence to more than 80,000 locations, and creates thousands of new ways for customers worldwide to stay in touch.
Key Wayport hotspots are in key locations, including select Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club and Four Seasons hotels; HealthSouth and Sun Healthcare locations; plus McDonald’s restaurants.
The acquisition also complements AT&T’s mobile access options for businesses. As Wayport currently provides back-office management for AT&T’s Wi-Fi Hot Spots, the acquisition expands such capabilities and brings management of Wi-Fi infrastructure completely under AT&T management.
“We’re seeing exponential growth of Wi-Fi-enabled devices — such as smartphones — combined with a continued dependency on 24/7, anytime, anywhere Internet access across business and consumer market segments,” said John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations. “Now is the right time for AT&T to affirm our commitment to Wi-Fi leadership. By acquiring Wayport, we’re giving consumers more ways to stay in touch and building a more robust network management solution for businesses. We’re bringing ready access to the nation’s leading Wi-Fi, wireless and IP networks — on a global scale.”http://www.att.comhttp://www.wayport.com
- Wayport is based in Irving, Texas and was founded in 1996. Major investors included Sevin Rosen Funds, INVESCO Private Capital, New Enterprise Associates, BA Venture Partners and Trellis Partners. Other Wayport investors included Lucent Venture Partners, GC Technology Fund, Sanders Morris Harris, Star Ventures and GIC.
- Wayport’s roaming partners have included AT&T, Verizon Business, Sprint, iPass, Boingo, Fiberlink, WeRoam, and Trustive.