Sprint PCS Group will build Wi-Fi wireless LAN hot spots and create roaming agreements with other service providers to provide high-speed local wireless data access in more than 2,100 U.S. locations by the end of this year, the mobile operator announced Monday.
Prices were not yet available for the service, which will be launched by the end of this quarter, and charges for the Wi-Fi service can"t be integrated into Sprint customers" cellular service bills until late this year. However, the combination of Sprint"s own hot spots and those available through roaming deals will create one of the largest networks of hot spots in the country. Public Wi-Fi hot spots, typically using 11Mbps wireless LANs based on the IEEE 802.11b specification, are proliferating as service providers look to offer a high-speed data option to their traveling customers, according to industry analysts. Users like the high speed but are frustrated with having to set up many different accounts in order to get it in multiple places, they have said.