Nintendo, FatPort Sign Canadian DS Wi-Fi Deal

After Nintendo's recent announcement of a U.S. deal with Wayport, enabling free Wi-Fi access for the Nintendo DS at nearly 6,000 McDonald’s fast food restaurants in the U.S., Nintendo has outlined further plans to build a wi-fi infrastructure for the DS in Canada. Nintendo of Canada has announced that it will partner with FatPort, a broadband Internet service provider. Under the terms of this agreement, FatPort will offer free wireless access from the access points it runs in public buildings throughout Canada - the company has access to 4000 wireless access points worldwide, including partners, and its list in Canada includes hotels, restaurants and stores. "We are thrilled to have come to an agreement with Nintendo of Canada to provide their Nintendo DS users access to the FatPort footprint across Canada," said FatPort VP of business development Michael Kuhlmann. "The intent is to make it as easy as possible for Nintendo DS users to access our network by way of silent authentication, opening up our network to an entirely new demographic of users. Our traditional focus on the traveling business person has just been augmented and we look forward to working with Nintendo to making this initiative a success." The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, as Nintendo's wireless support is officially named, will go active on November 14 as the first wi-fi-enabled Nintendo DS games are released. Nintendo will offer Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing: Wild World, both of which will be playable online, and the two first-party offerings will be joined by Activision's Tony Hawk: American Sk8land.