Business Services Industry

Wayport Unplugs Austin Area McDonald's with Wi-Fi; Austin Users of Wayport's Wi-Fi Network Will Drive Donations to New Local Ronald McDonald House

Business Wire, March 8, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas -- Wayport, Inc. and McDonald's today gave the greater Austin area residents and visitors another reason to connect with the Golden Arches. Beginning March 13, participating area McDonald's restaurants will add a new item to their menu -- high-speed Wi-Fi wireless Internet access for wireless-enabled notebook computers, handheld devices and Nintendo DS gaming devices. The Wi-Fi service will be available in more than 40 McDonald's locations throughout the Austin metro area and is powered by Austin based Wayport, the nation's largest provider of high-speed Wi-Fi wireless and wired Internet access to mobile broadband users and back office applications for retail venues like McDonald's.

The cost of Wayport's high-speed Internet service is $2.95 for a day pass that can be used at any of the greater Austin area McDonald's within the same day. "McDonald's and Wayport are thrilled to offer both convenience and value to our customers," says German Ustariz, president of the Austin co-op of McDonald's owners. "We are pleased to provide day-long access for under $3.00."

In addition, Wayport is offering an "Austin McDonald's" monthly membership plan for only $5.00 per month. For more information, customers can visit www.wayport.net/austin.> To celebrate the Austin wide Wi-Fi launch, Wayport and McDonald's will donate one dollar for each paid Wi-Fi connection made locally between March 13 and June 16 to the new Ronald McDonald House, scheduled for construction in 2007 near the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. AT&T plans to match up to $10,000 in connection contributions; and Cisco will donate IP voice communications and wireless access technology to both the existing and the new Austin Ronald McDonald Houses, with services managed by Wayport. The employees at Cisco have also elected to support the new Ronald McDonald House with their "I-Give" program, with Cisco matching its employees' gifts. McDonald's invites all "Austinites" with a Wi-Fi enabled device to support Ronald McDonald House by trying out the new wireless service at the participating McDonald's in their neighborhood.

Wayport has served McDonald's since April 2004, when McDonald's selected Wayport as its preferred connectivity provider to support public Wi-Fi access and an array of mission-critical private applications such as credit card transactions for food and beverage, dial backup, security cameras and many others. The choice reflected the outstanding performance of Wayport's carrier grade high-speed network, superior 24/7 customer care and the capabilities to support both public and private applications over the Internet. Currently, Wayport provides its services to nearly 7,000 McDonald's restaurants across the United States and continues to deploy as many as 100 new McDonald's locations per week.

McDonald's offers convenient locations to pull in and wirelessly stay in touch for the growing number of Wi-Fi users in the Austin area, including sales professionals, business travelers and parents and students who need to connect to work, school, family and friends while on-the-go.

Mr. Ustariz adds, "Today's customer is more time-pressed than ever, and we think it's important to meet the needs of busy professional and family lifestyles by offering services that are easy to use and relevant to their busy, on-the-go lives. We want the McDonald's to be the first choice for a great meal and a place to go wireless."

"McDonald's leads the way in bringing this vital technology to millions of consumers who need a convenient place to log on and work remotely or catch up with their daily schedules and correspondence while out of their home or office during the day," added Dave Vucina, CEO of Wayport. "McDonald's locations can be found in nearly every neighborhood, making it the perfect venue to stay connected when mobile. We are proud to offer this service in Austin, our company headquarters, and to support local charities like the Ronald McDonald House".

To further support the community, Wayport, McDonald's and Cisco will be hosting local McTeacher's Nights events in Austin on March 28th. These events are set up to support local schools, inviting teachers, students and families to enjoy dinner at their local McDonald's restaurants. A portion of the evenings proceeds are donated to the participating schools.

More than 40 McDonald's restaurants with Wayport's Wi-Fi wireless service will be installed in the greater Austin area, including:

5355 N. IH 35, Austin              9422 N. Lamar Blvd, Austin
806 N. Austin Avenue, Austin       500 W. William Cannon Drive, Austin
310 N. IH 35, Round Rock           2146 E. Austin Street, Giddings
2501 N. Main Street, Taylor        13813 Burnet Road, Austin
12514 W. Highway 71, Bee Cave      1700 W. Pecan, Pflugerville
2114 Slaughter Lane W., Austin     2426 E. Riverside Drive, Austin
1143 Airport Boulevard, Austin     496 State Highway 71 W., Bastrop
3300 Bee Cave Road, Austin         5516 N. Lamar Boulevard, Austin
10732 Research Boulevard, Austin   13749 N. Highway 183, Austin
5762 N. Mo Pac Expressway, Austin  220 Highway 290, Elgin
2608 W. Braker Lane, Austin        414 W. MLK Boulevard, Austin
4501 E. Ben White Boulevard,       12801 Ranch Road 620 N., Austin
 Austin
2401 N. IH 35, Round Rock          12443 Metric Boulevard, Austin
3909 S. Congress Avenue, Austin    6010 W. Parmer Lane, Austin
7409 Ranch Road 620 N., Austin     13609 N. IH 35, Austin
15900 N. IH 35, Austin             1410 Cypress Creek Road, Cedar Park
609 W. Front Street, Hutto         4418 Williams Drive, Georgetown

Additional locations coming soon:

1103 N. Bell Boulevard, Cedar Park  6503 S. IH 35, Austin, TX
1024 E. Anderson Lane, Austin       106 Louis Henna Boulevard, Round
                                     Rock
8500 E. Highway 290, Austin         2850 Highway 71 W., Cedar Creek
1209 Barton Springs Road, Austin    7010 W. Highway 71, Austin