The GOWEX free WiFi lands on the streets of Chicago

GOWEX takes its global model of Wireless Smart Cities ® (WSC) to Chicago, the third-largest U.S. city by population after New York and Los Angeles, and one of the most important business hubs in the world

With GOWEX's arrival in Chicago, the company adds its fourth WiFi City in the country, a major step in its growth strategy in the North American region

The 9.5 million inhabitants in the Windy City's metropolitan district and its 46 million annual visitors will now will be able to enjoy the free WiFi, similar to other leading cities in the world such as New York, Madrid, Paris or Dubai

Madrid, May the 20th 2014-. GOWEX (GOW-MAB, ALGOW-NYSE Alternext, LGWXY-OTC Market), a leading company in the creation of Wireless Smart Cities®, will offer free WiFi connection in Chicago as of today,  thanks to network of more than 450 free WiFi hotspots, deployed mostly Downtown and the central business district.

This strategy extends GOWEXs footprint to the third-largest U.S. city by population, after New York and Los Angeles; Chicago also being one of the most important business hubs in the world. The companys fourth WiFi City in the US, after New York, San Francisco and Miami, represents a major step in its growth strategy in the North American region.

The success and the accolades of the global model of Wireless Smart Cities® (WSC) achieved by GOWEX in these cities - and the other 86 cities where the Company is present - have weighed on the decision to expand to Chicago. GOWEX will be able to leverage this investment thanks to the unique Smart Advertising platforms, Roaming, Offloading and Smart City services.

Jenaro García, CEO of GOWEX commented about this new launch that "We are very proud of our contribution to make Chicago a hyper-connected WiFi City and a technological reference, comparable to New York or San Francisco" and added that "with this new project we continue to expand and strengthen our presence in the U.S., a strategic focus for the Company due to its enormous potential amongst users and the possibilities offered by the advertising and technological development."
The Company recently announced the appointment of Carlos Pujol, former CEO of Cemusa (USA) to lead the expansion of GOWEX in North America.

'Chicago WiFi' by GOWEX

The 9.5 million inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Chicago will be able to enjoy the new free WiFi service, which will be available in the main districts of the downtown area (Lake View, Old Town, Cabrini-Green, Goose Island, De Paul, Streeterville, River north, etc.) and in certain public spaces at the north area. A significant number of hotspots of the network are concentrated within Near West Side community, adyacent to 'The Loop', the main business district of Chicago, where the Government office and the hub of the "L", the fast transportation system of the city, are located.
Thanks to this new service, the millions of tourists visiting Chicago - which recorded more than 46 million visitors in 2013 - will be able to surf for free while visiting some of the most important attractions of the Windy city (Magnificent Mile, Gold Coast, Navy Pier or its famous skyscrapers etc.) or while walking on the most important shopping districts.

Users will be able to access the .FREEGOWEXWiFi network providing up to 1 Mbps in mobile devices and the WiFi Roaming service. They will be able to connect for free with the same username in any of the 86 WiFi Cities of the company (New York, San Francisco, Dublin, Dubai, Paris, Madrid etc.).

In addition, the new wireless service will be an important partner for mobile operators present in the city, allowing the data offloading through the WiFi GOWEX hotspots in areas where the 3G/4G networks are saturated. This is a key aspect of GOWEXS deployment considering that Chicago's mobile devices penetration is 57% and, according to the forecasts made by Cisco, the mobile data traffic in the U.S. will be 18 times higher in 2016.

Local Partnerships

Similar to Miami, San Francisco or New York, the key to the GOWEX network development in Chicago has been the cooperation between different local actors and partners, both public and private that reinforced the business model and profit channels of GOWEX.
With the addition of Chicago as a new Wireless Smart City, the company continues to progress towards its goal of reaching the 600 major cities in the world in the next five years.