The first and largest independent clearing and settlement service connecting the subscribers of Internet service providers (ISPs) with Wi-Fi venue operators. eZ-Wi™ offers subscribers of participating ISPs the freedom to use their existing account to access the Internet at participating hotspots.

WLAN performs RADIUS proxy to the service provider’s home AAA server and compares the amount a venue wants to charge for use of its hotspot to what the ISP will pay for its subscriber’s use, performing a “value handshake.”

• WLAN roaming allows an ISP’s subscribers to have the freedom to use their existing account to access the Internet at participating hotspots.
• WLAN roaming allows an ISP to be subscribers’ “one stop shop” for all Internet access, wired and wireless.
• WLAN roaming can add tangible value and may boost subscriber loyalty and reduce churn.
• WLAN roaming provides an ISP with an additional product offering.
• WLAN roaming provides an ISP with a new revenue opportunity from its existing subscriber base.
• WLAN roaming provides low-cost entry into the public WLAN market. There is no net cost to deploy WLAN Roaming. The ISP develops a new service plan for its existing subscribers. Usage costs may be entirely borne by subscribers.
• There is minimal impact on network or system architecture. WLAN roaming uses standard RADIUS/AAA.
• BSG manages WLAN roaming settlement. One WLAN roaming contract with BSG provides the ISP with access for their customers to participating hotspots and aggregators.

No, BSG is a wireless LAN clearinghouse.

* Branding: a clearinghouse is branded neutral whereby an aggregator is about pursuing their own brand
* Customer Relationship a clearinghouse does not own a set of customers where as a service aggregator owns a customer directly or indirectly
* Core Competencies: a Clearinghouse handles high volume mediation and financial settlement where as a service aggregator manages network connectivity and end-users
* Technologies: a Clearinghouse is standard based where as service aggregators typically have a degree of proprietary hardware and/or software
* Partner agreements: Clearinghouses manage wholesale agreements whereas the service aggregator handles subscriptions to end users in retail

WLAN roaming is not in competition with other Wi-Fi aggregators as they exist today. It is a complementary service that gives the current industry participants another option of gaining customers and venues at effectively no additional cost. The existing industry participants can, and should, join WLAN roaming so that they can offer their subscribers and enterprise customers even more options for remote access.

BSG does not manage hotspots on your behalf. We do, however, offer all of our payment options to retailers of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Each venue/hotspot must be able to send Accounting Starts and Stops (see RFC 2866 and WISPr version 1.0.) The venue/hotspot must also be able to support the Class Attribute and WPA. This should only require a firmware upgrade to existing access points. WLAN roaming also recommends that the venue/hotspot’s access point be able to support Interim Accounting.