GRIC tops 1,000 in wired and wireless locations

MILPITAS, California -- GRIC Communications, a provider of mobile office communications systems, has topped the 1,000 mark for wired and wireless broadband locations. This includes 44 airports with broadband coverage with the addition of Narita Airport in Tokyo.

"Now, with the same client software, same user ID and password," said GRIC CEO Hong Chen, "mobile professionals can securely access their corporate e-mail and networks via GRIC's vast network of more than 600 broadband wireless access locations, 100,000 Ethernet-enabled hotel rooms, and more than 20,000 dialup access points in over 150 countries."

GRIC has signed an agreement with Airport Intelligence Communications Service for broadband wireless access at Narita Airport. Access will be in terminals One and Two. GRIC also recently signed an agreement with Airpath Wireless for broadband wireless coverage at 25 airports. GRIC airport coverage also includes such major airports as San Jose International, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Seattle-Tacoma.

As a result of these and other agreements, the GRIC TierOne Network now boasts 1,072 broadband access locations. This includes 636 wireless hot spot locations and 436 Ethernet-enabled hotels connected to the Wayport network, which provides high-speed access in more than 100,000 hotel rooms in the United States. In all, GRIC now offers broadband service in 10 countries and dial-up service in more than 150.

Enabling users

"Providing access to broadband services is a critical part of GRIC's commitment to enable end users to be as productive on the road as they are in their own offices," Chen said. "As we have in the past, we will provide that access by aligning ourselves with the highest quality service providers globally. Airpath and AIC certainly belong in that company."

GRIC Communications is a leading provider of Internet-based mobile office communications solutions for enterprise customers and telecommunications providers. GRIC's MobileOffice delivers solutions to business individuals, who are traveling or working remotely, the same set of services they have access to when they are working in a central office, thus allowing them to work productively and efficiently wherever they happen to be. 

The GRIC TierOne Network of more than 300 top-tier service providers provides end users remote Internet access through more than 20,000 wired and wireless access points in more than 150 countries. A founding member and vice-chair of the Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA) sub-committee Wireless Internet Service Provider roaming (WISPr), GRIC is known in the industry as a pioneer roaming and remote Internet access via Wi-Fi, and provides its customers the ability to take advantage of broadband access points such as wireless hotspots using its leading mobile office communications solutions.

Last week, GRIC Communications announced that Datacraft Japan, a subsidiary of Datacraft Asia Ltd., will offer GRIC's global remote Internet access service, including Wi-Fi access, to its customer base of leading enterprises and consumers throughout Japan. The agreement with Datacraft Japan further solidifies GRIC's leadership position in Asia-Pacific, Chen said.

Secure access

The agreement with GRIC means that Datacraft's customers will be able to securely access the Internet, and their corporate networks, at the cost of a local call in more than 150 countries, benefiting from increased productivity and significant cost savings, according to GRIC. Datacraft's customers can securely log onto the Internet through GRIC's extensive global reach of more than 20,000 dialing locations using GRIC's easy-to-use, point-and-click client software. 

"The combination of GRIC's SecureAccess service and Datacraft's VPN assure Datacraft customers one of the highest levels of security available whenever they access the Internet or their corporate networks," Chen said. "Enterprises are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need for security when their remote workers connect to the Internet and solutions such as those offered by Datacraft and GRIC go a long way toward meeting that need."

With Datacraft's Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions, end users can have secure encrypted tunnels between the user and the corporate network. GRIC also offers customized integration of VPN solutions offered by Datacraft and can incorporate instructions for a one-click launch to ensure secure communication between the mobile worker and the corporate network.

"With its global coverage, and the high reliability and quality of services that GRIC Communication offers to its users, Datacraft Japan believes that this partnership will greatly benefit our customers and further enhance our existing range of remote access VPN solutions," said Yutaka Aoki, President and CEO of Datacraft Japan. 

Two weeks ago, GRIC announced that EarthLink had teamed with GRIC to enable EarthLink subscribers to dial-up their EarthLink accounts in more than 80 countries. By accessing EarthLink through GRIC's worldwide network, traveling EarthLink subscribers should have the same Internet experience similar to the one at their home or office. EarthLink subscribers will be able to connect to the Internet using their familiar EarthLink log-on procedures and software by dialing local numbers in many international countries covered by the agreement.

Chen's background

Prior to founding GRIC, Chen was president and CEO of Aimnet, a Northern California Internet service provider that was acquired by Verio in 1997, which was sold to NTT in 2000 for$5.6B. His previous experience was in engineering, working in the networking industry.

Chen is a respected new economy leader in the Asia Pacific community. He was the Chairman of the Asian American Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the largest Asia Pacific focused, high-tech business and executive association in the Silicon Valley with over 1000 members. He is the president of the Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association, the "Churchill Club" of Mainland Born Chinese business leaders. He is also one of only two mainland Chinese who brought their public in the U.S. in the 90s.

Chen received a bachelor's degree in computer science from Xian Jiaotong University (China) in 1982 at the age of 19, and a Ph.D. in computer science from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1991.