Some companies spend a fortune on marketing, advertising and PR to become a marketplace leader. Other companies take a different route. They are quieter. They don’t market to the end user. They market to other companies who use their service under their own brand name.

This is the story of Boingo Wireless.

Boingo Wireless has been around for more than two decades. They have grown and changed over time. Boingo is in the B-to-B, and B-to-B-to-C space. They offer services many of us use on a regular basis, but don’t realize it.

In fact, Wi-Fi, private networks and private wireless are some of the services they offer to companies, airports, military bases, barracks, shopping centers, stadiums, universities, hospitals and so much more. We think these services are owned and operated by the company who operates them. However, the truth is, these services are built and run by outside companies like Boingo.

Speaking with Derek Peterson, chief technology officer at Boingo, I learned they do not just offer one kind of product or service. He says they meet with their customer and determine the wants and needs and put together a strategy to give the customer just what they want.

Boingo Wireless has many competitors including other private wireless and networking companies like Boldyn Networks, Celona, Tarana Wireless, Kodiak Network, Tucows, Metronet, Cambium Networks, Towerstream, Juniper Networks and many more.

There are plenty of larger competitors as well including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Xfinity, Spectrum, Altice, Cox and more.

You see, this whole private wireless sector is exploding with growth in recent years. It is full of smaller and larger companies who all compete with each other in one or more areas. Some are stronger than others. Some have been around a lot longer than others. Some serve the small business market. Others medium and large businesses.

How will Boingo Wireless solve new challenges?

Peterson said Boingo offers services including 5G wireless from Tier One carriers. They also offer Private Networks, Distributed Antenna System or DAS, Wi-FI, hot spots and more.

Over time, because they have been so quiet, I didn’t know as much about them as I do today. That is the same problem many of their potential customers have. And that is the challenge they must overcome.

So, how does Boingo Wireless solve this challenge of a changing marketplace with more competition?

In my opinion, the private networking space is a rapidly growing and will have long legs. There are an increasing number of customers in many sectors that want to either install private networks or at least get their feet wet.

That being said, the marketplace can either be solid with real growth opportunities, or it can be a struggle depending on the competitor, their technology and their approach.

Today’s marketplace is loud and noisy and Boingo must be seen and heard

Boingo has been in the business since 2001. They are growing. That is all good news. However, one problem is that competition is growing too. In that world, competitors do not all have the same level of name recognition.

In today’s marketplace, there are so many new competitors and they are all screaming for attention. That creates a noise level which every competitor must punch their way through to be seen and heard. In my opinion, that is the only way to succeed going forward.

So far, so good for Boingo. Now we wait and see what they do for their second act.

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