Billing Concepts today announced a landmark settlement service that will dramatically expand the Wi-Fi based public wireless Internet access market. BCI's new product, eZ-Wi, is the first independent clearing and settlement service connecting the customers of Internet service providers (ISPs) with Wi-Fi venue operators. eZ-Wi offers customers of participating ISPs the freedom to use their existing account to access the Internet at all participating hotspots.

The eZ-Wi business model differs from current public wireless Internet offerings. It allows customers to connect at hotspots anywhere and have charges for those connections reflected on their home or office Internet bill. As a neutral third-party, eZ-Wi is also distinct because it does not encroach on the branding efforts of ISPs or venue operators.

This new service offers benefits to the entire value chain in the public wireless Internet market:

• Consumers will gain the ease of a single Internet access provider relationship, increasing satisfaction.
• Internet service providers will benefit from a wholesale access model at no net cost, which improves customer loyalty and reduces churn.
• Hotspot owners will earn revenue from selling Internet access to a broader customer base.

"The major advantage of eZ-Wi is that it will democratize the marketplace, and that means more hotspots much sooner," says Don Philbin, COO of Billing Concepts. "BCI's model will accelerate the adoption of public wireless Internet access by eliminating the need for hotspot owners and service providers to be one and the same. eZ-Wi will allow the public wireless Internet marketplace to achieve its full growth potential by opening the door for hotspots to access the vast subscriber base of existing ISPs," he said. The true value of eZ-Wi is that it serves as a neutral intermediary between ISPs and hotspot locations. The hundreds of thousands of access points needed to provide wireless Internet coverage that is readily available everywhere will be deployed by a myriad of providers with diverse business models and interests. While larger ISPs and hotspot franchises will establish direct agreements, others will need a trusted third-party to mediate usage and settle charges incurred when a customer accesses their network at hotspot locations. eZ-Wi enables independent and small ISPs to offer roaming on hotspots and alternate wireless Internet carriers as a value-added service to their customer base.

By serving as the third-party clearinghouse, eZ-Wi will mediate compensation agreements between ISPs and hotspot operators. The current pricing model is scarcity driven with limited hotspots and closed networks charging what the market will bear. With eZ-Wi opening the market and creating a greater demand for wireless Internet services, consumer adoption is expected to increase, resulting in lower prices for public WLAN Internet access. eZ-Wi will ultimately enable ISPs to bill the customer directly on their monthly Internet or phone bill as an add-on feature.

BCI's wireless settlement model does not differ greatly from its telecom model. "eZ-Wi is an extension of the services we've been successfully providing to the telecom industry for 15 years," says Philbin. Entering the wireless Internet market is just a natural progression of BCI's existing business model and an application of its strong core competencies to emerging technologies.

"eZ-Wi is what the public wireless LAN industry needs to accelerate Wi-Fi adoption," said Philbin. "Billing Concepts has the experience and the solution," he said.

Billing Concepts offers outsourced billing solutions through a wide range of proprietary LEC processing products and wireless Internet clearing and settling services.

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