An infographic of NetNearU’s network architecture. Photo: NetNearU

[Via Satellite 06-10-2014] ViaSat has acquired NetNearU, a company that provides public Internet network management services, to expand its Wi-Fi capabilities. NetNearU’s network management system for Wi-Fi and other networks will build on ViaSat’s Exede services to allow the company to expand to various markets such as commercial airlines, live events, hospitality, enterprise networking and government broadband projects.

“Wi-Fi is an increasingly important way to access broadband networks and cloud services,” said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat’s chairman and CEO. “NetNearU’s breadth and depth in Wi-Fi expertise gives us important new ways to deliver more value and convenience from our networks.”

ViaSat will now have an established presence in Texas, as the company plans to operate NetNearU as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ViaSat and will keep its Bryan/College Station, Texas location. NetNearU manages public Wi-Fi networks, as well as a variety of other wireless Internet access networks, such as hotspots, enterprise, campus and metro installations. The company’s Trackos software provides the necessary management services such as automated and real-time provisioning, authentication, billing, roaming, quality of service, advertising, monitoring and support.