The Cloud (company)

The Cloud
Industry Public access Wi-Fi
Founded January 2003 (2003-01)
Headquarters St Albans, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Number of locations
 22,000
Area served
 United Kingdom
Key people
 Vince Russell
(Managing Director)
Number of employees
 100
Parent Sky plc
Website www.thecloud.net

The Cloud is a provider of public access Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK and is a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.[1] It has over 22,000 Wi-Fi hotspots network access points in the UK.[2]

The Cloud has offices in St Albans, Munich, and Stockholm.

Timeline

YearEvent
Jan 2003The Cloud is founded
Mar 2003The Cloud's network begins roll-out
Apr 2003BT Openzone becomes the first Service Provider on the Cloud network
May 2003Network reaches 1000 sites
Dec 2003The Cloud wins the Brainheart European Wi-Fi Award 2003
Jan 2005Roll out begins in Nordics
Sep 2004Integrated WLAN and 3G service launched for O2
Feb 2005Airnyx acquired in Germany
May 2005Roll out begins in Germany
July 2005Net Chek-In acquired in Germany
Sept 2005Exilan acquired
Dec 2005The World Economic Forum Announces New Class of Technology Pioneers for 2006: The Cloud Networks Selected
Dec 2005Canova Wireless acquired in the UK
Apr 2006iPass joins the network
Sep 2006Telenor partners with The Cloud Nordics
Jan 2007Steve Nicholson joins the Cloud as CEO
Oct 2007McDonald’s takes free Wi-Fi mainstream with The Cloud
Jan 2008Acquisition of hotel Wi-Fi specialist GANAG in Germany
Oct 2008€17 million funding round from Ferd Ventures, existing investors and GP Bullhound
Dec 2008Roll out new user centric service platform
Jun 2009The Company moves its UK Headquarters to St Albans
Sep 2009Cloud network locator launched for the iPhone
Oct 2009Launch of new Palm Pre mobile smartphone with the Cloud / O2
Jan 2010Naunton Dickins joins the company as UK Managing Director
Jan 2010FastConnect is launched to make Wi-Fi universally simple
Jan 2011Acquired by BSkyB[3]
Aug 2011The Cloud becomes exclusive free hotspot provider for Telefónica Germany [4]
Feb 2012Telefónica O2 UK discontinues free access to The Cloud for customers on unlimited Wi-Fi contracts
April 2012Sky starts offering free wireless internet to Sky Broadband customers in the UK via The Cloud [5]

CEOs

  • 2003 – 2007: George Polk
  • 2007 – 2011: Steve Nicholson
  • 2011 – present: Vince Russell

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". The Cloud.
  2. ↑ "When in Roam". The Cloud.
  3. ↑ "The Cloud to become part of the BSkyB Group". UK: The Cloud / BSkyB. January 2011.
  4. ↑ o2 starts offering The Cloud Wi-Fi to business customers, retrieved on September 12, 2011
  5. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a377347/sky-starts-offering-free-wireless-internet-in-the-uk.html
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.