Yadwire Seeks to Transform Free Public WiFi

From a small office suite in Ra’anana, David Ziza wants to extract profit from thin air.  After performing this feat of alchemy, the real fun begins.  Mr. Ziza, 44,  is the founder and CEO of Yadwire, and with his team of CTO & co-founder Stephane Hercot, and Designer & Developer David Adelsberg, he is creating a new model for businesses to provide free wireless internet hotspots to customers.

The original premise is simple: Yadwire provides retail outlets with WiFi infrastructure, and when consumers connect to Yadwire hotspots with smartphones, tablets, or laptops, their web browsers display a small advertisement or toolbar somewhere on the screen.  That space can be purchased by a third-party, in which case Yadwire and its customer share the ad revenue, or Yadwire’s customer can opt to use that space to promote its own products or services. To date, Yadwire’s biggest project is an agreement, brokered by franchisee Samuel Houri, with a large chain of sandwich restaurants in New York City; by December, 2012, more than 200 outlets in Manhattan and Brooklyn will host Yadwire hotspots.

Mr. Ziza envisions far more ambitious applications of Yadwire technology.  He is currently in negotiations to provide internet access at one of the largest shopping malls in North America.  Using geolocation, Yadwire will be able to target advertisements to customers in specific stores – retailers will have the ability to send coupons to customers in and around their shops.  In another application under development, Yadwire can superimpose toolbars on consumers’ web browsers.  The toolbars will be customizable, giving users a new way to interact with the web and with the companies providing these utilities.  Ultimately, Yadwire’s various approaches to adding value to WiFi hotspots are limited only by the imaginations of Mr. Ziza, Mr. Hercot, and Mr. Adelsberg, and their business seems to emphasize the development and exploration of new ideas above all else.

Correction: David Ziza’s name was spelled incorrectly.  It has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.