“5G is not really hype, it’s here and it will emerge over time,” says Boingo CEO Mike Finley. “I think it’s going to come faster than 4G did. You have all the U.S. operators engaged and you have operators all over the world that are launching and want to launch 5G products. At Boingo, we’ll take the 5G capabilities and implement them into all the venues that we have. Take (5G) cellular today and mix that with Wi-Fi that’s coming in Wi-Fi 6 and it’s really an incredible offering that comes to end-users.”
Mike Finley, CEO of Boingo, discusses how the combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 is already bringing higher and faster internet speeds, lower latency, more device connections, and better security, in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:
Wi-Fi 6 Is Starting To Come Out Now
Wi-Fi in and of itself continues to evolve. Wi-Fi 6 is starting to come out now. We’ve recently done a trial in the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. Essentially, that’s higher speed, faster speeds, lower latency, and many more devices can be used at the same speeds with better security. As Wi-Fi continues to evolve you’ll start to see devices and capabilities come with that.
The second piece of it is at Boingo we are an activity company. We offer a combination of cellular and Wi-Fi together. As new technologies come out and if that’s satellite those types of capabilities will be enabled in devices. When you have a company like Boingo that’s a neutral host company in large airports, multi-family housing, military bases, in stadiums, and places like that, we’ll enable all of that technology so that the end user can benefit from the capabilities that are in front of them.
5G Is Not Really Hype, It’s Here
If you look at where 5G’s at, it’s here. 5G has been launched here in the US. There are infrastructure companies outside of (China’s) Huawei that have been in front of that and are the networks that the U.S. operators are launching with. Devices are coming in rapid fashion. There are chips that companies like Qualcomm have not only developed but now have in the marketplace. There have been devices that have launched. A laptop with Lenovo and Qualcomm was announced last week that has 5G in it.
5G is not really hype, it’s here and it will emerge over time. I think it’s going to come faster than 4G did. Part of that is because you have infrastructure vendors and device makers that are seeing that it’s going to scale quickly. You have all the U.S. operators engaged and you have operators all over the world that are launching and want to launch 5G products. That’s been being worked for a long time. At Boingo, we’ll take the 5G capabilities and implement them into all the venues that we have. Cellular today and you mix that with Wi-Fi that’s coming in Wi-Fi 6 and it’s really an incredible offering that comes to end-users.
Boingo Continues With Double-Digit Revenue Growth
We’ve had 18 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth. We’ve exceeded our guidance for 20 quarters in a row. We’ve met the guidance that we have for the first quarter and that we’re claiming for the rest of this year. We’re performing according to our plan. We continue to invest and we have lots of opportunity in our cellular business and our Wi-Fi business continues to grow. The combination of those two together really is what separates us. We also have a new opportunity in multifamily or apartment buildings and student housing that we’re developing now as we speak.