• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 11, 2012

Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless on Tuesday announced Google Play will sponsor free Wi-Fi at more than 4,000 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide through the end of September. The deal follows a partnership launched in June in which Google Offers sponsored 200 Wi-Fi locations in Manhattan, and later expanded to include 16 airports and eight shopping malls around the country in August.

Google Play will now take over the sponsorship for those and other hotspots that include New York's JFK and Chicago's O'Hare airports and thousands of hotels, cafes and recreational areas. The expanded Wi-Fi footprint stems from Boingo's acquisition of Cloud Nine Media's Wi-Fi advertising network in August. 

People with Android smartphones and tablets, as well as Windows and Mac laptops, will be able to access the free offering in dozens of cities. Users logging will see a free offer message, and can click throughto a Google Play-branded screen. Another click takes them online, where they're automatically directed to the Google Play store to get available free content or browse the full digital entertainment catalog.