Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wi-Fi Firm Joltage Discontinues Service

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 05:30:30 -0500

Wi-Fi Firm Joltage Discontinues Service
Joltage, a start up firm that planned to build a network of Wi-Fi systems that
would be available to subscribers for a fee, said its will discontinue the service
due to slower-than-expected demand. The company worked with café owners
and independent hotels to install the wireless Internet access technology that
users could subscribe to for $24.99 for 60 hours, or for $1.99 per hour.
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Start-up Joltage unplugs Wi-Fi service

By Richard Shim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 28, 2003, 4:29 PM PT

Wi-Fi service start-up Joltage will cease operating because of slower-than-expected
demand that led to a drain on its finances.

The New York-based company launched less than a year ago, touting plans to sell wireless
high-speed Internet access on Wi-Fi networks. But according to an e-mail sent earlier this

month by Joltage founder and Chairman Andrew Weinreich, the company will discontinue its
Wi-Fi subscriber and provider services. In the message, sent to subscribers and service
providers, Weinreich said it appeared it would take longer than expected for Joltage to
acquire
enough customers on its networks for the company to sustain itself.

"We are no longer able to finance our operations as we had once hoped we would be able
to,"
Weinreich wrote. "We will therefore no longer be able to support your operations as a
venue for
individuals to gain wireless access to the Internet."

The company could not be reached for comment. The content on the Joltage Web site has
been removed, and only the logo appears, which refers people to an e-mail address.

Joltage joined Boingo Wireless and more recently Cometa Networks in trying to establish a
viable business model by offering Wi-Fi access to customers for a fee.

Joltage identified places where Wi-Fi "hot spots" hadn't been installed and lobbied cafe
owners
and independent hoteliers to install wireless networks, then signed them on to its
network. Hot
spots are places where wireless Web access is available to the public for a fee. Joltage
initially
charged a monthly fee of $24.99 for up to 60 hours or an hourly fee of $1.99 an hour.

"Our goal is to build out a footprint," Weinreich said of the Joltage model last year.

In related news, Boingo said earlier this week that it has added three new hot spot
operator
partners, bringing its total to 25 network partners and more than 1,200 Wi-Fi hot spot
locations.

http://news.com.com/2100-1039-990671.html

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