Quiconnect, which is headquartered in London, shuns the denomination WiFi aggregator in favour of specialist SI, focused on wireless. CEO Troy Simioni argues that it facilitates bilateral WiFi roaming deals between operators rather than signing them itself.

Its role is to enable roaming through an operations hub for functions that differ from one network to another, such as log-in, authentication and the harmonization of commercial terms.

For example, BT charges for access on a per-minute basis, whereas others may force a user to buy a minimum of 24 hours, yet will need to honour BT’s commercial terms when BT Openzone subscribers use its network, Simioni explained.

As Julie Ragbourne, head of Openzone wholesale and international roaming within BT’s Wireless Broadband division put it: We have 8,500 hotspots in the UK and Ireland and 30,000 internationally to which our Openzone customers have access, mainly through our partners in the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

The WBA is an organization made up primarily of big carriers, but the speed at which roaming deals come to pass within that forum is too slow for BT’s plans. It recently announced plans for a fixed-mobile convergence offering to business customers, initially in the UK and Europe but ultimately, through its Global Services division, worldwide.

Voice over WiFi will be an integral part of that offering, so having an extensive network of hotspots available to corporate customers will be essential. Quiconnect will take us beyond those numbers, Ragbourne said.

The first example of what Quiconnect will bring to BT is in Spain, where the operator’s WiFi customers can now use Kubi Wireless SA’s hotspots in that country’s major international airports, and next will be a roaming deal with a South African hotspot operator.

A major target, however, is bound to be the US, where BT Global Systems and its US arm, BT Infonet, need to offer WiFi connectivity to their corporate customers’ networks through their MobileXpress remote access service. In this context, Quiconnect’s relationships with both Sprint Corp and AT&T Inc will clearly be of interest.

The announcement with Quiconnect came on the same day that BT unveiled its plans for WiFi in its domestic market, working with Intel Corp to create a total of 12 Wireless Cities around the UK in conjunction with their local authorities.

As the company, which is also headquartered in London, explained, the wireless cities network will bring together the very latest technologies and applications for use by public services, businesses and people.