T-Mobile and iPass sign distribution agreement

The adoption of Wi-Fi for airline lounges, hotels, coffee shops and convention centers will soon reach the tipping point where special announcements of new services are no longer necessary or newsworthy. But, for the moment, a new agreement between T-Mobile USA and iPass serves as a strong signal of where the wireless industry is headed.

T-Mobile USA and iPass have announced what is described as "a landmark distribution agreement" that will enable corporations to access the T-Mobile HotSpot network through the iPass virtual network. Now, enterprise IT managers and CIOs can provide their mobile workers with a seamless experience to connect to the T-Mobile HotSpot network through the iPassConnect service interface. The two companies said this agreement stands to accelerate the adoption of enterprise Wi-Fi usage by combining the largest commercial Wi-Fi service in North America with the world's largest virtual network.

"The Wi-Fi visions of both iPass and T-Mobile are in synch," said Ken Denman, chairman and CEO of iPass. "Both companies believe the addition of the T-Mobile HotSpot network to the iPass global Wi-Fi network of business-oriented venues represents a major step closer to the tipping point in the adoption of Wi-Fi by the enterprise."

Biggest deal yet

The San Jose Mercury-News described the agreement "as biggest deal yet in the business of selling high-speed wireless Internet connections."

T-Mobile HotSpot owns and operates a carrier-class wireless broadband network at airports, airline clubs and lounges of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, Borders Books and Music, Kinko's and Starbucks coffeehouses. With 3,900 locations, the T-Mobile HotSpot network is the largest public Wi-Fi network in the United States. The iPass Global Broadband Roaming (GBR) network, the largest virtual network in the world, spans 24 countries with nearly 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in 16 countries as well as over 1,200 Ethernet-enabled venues around the world. This represents T-Mobile's first Wi-Fi inbound roaming agreement.

"This new distribution agreement enables corporations to easily connect to our network with the iPassConnect service interface they already use today," said Joe Sims, vice president and general manager of T-Mobile HotSpot. "This agreement with iPass continues to underscore our strategy of focusing on the enterprise market and meeting the needs of enterprise customers."

Internal T-Mobile research has shown that 88 percent of T-Mobile HotSpot network usage is for business purposes. With this agreement, IT managers will further be able to use the same industry-leading iPass connectivity services that they already supply their mobile workforce to get online using the broad-scale T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi network. The ability for iPass users to access the T-Mobile HotSpot network means that they are using a service that is continuously monitored from a national operations center to ensure customers get optimal performance and reliability. T-Mobile plans to soon deploy the 802.1x security standard across its entire carrier-class Wi-Fi network.

T-Mobile very aggressive

"T-Mobile has been very aggressive in building and promoting what is now North America's largest single commercial Wi-Fi network," said John Yunker of Pyramid Research. "By including locations such as airports and Kinko's, the T-Mobile thinking is right in-line with the iPass business-oriented venue approach to building its virtual Wi-Fi network for the enterprise."

Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is a member of the T-Mobile International group, the mobile telecommunications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. T-Mobile operates the largest GSM/GPRS 1900 voice and data network in the country, reaching over 245 million people including roaming and other agreements.

In addition, T-Mobile operates the largest carrier owned Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless broadband (WLAN) network in the country, available in more than 3,900 public access locations including Starbucks coffeehouses, Borders Books and Music, Kinko's, airports and American Airlines Admirals Clubs, United Red Carpet Clubs and Delta Air Lines Clubs.

iPass Inc. is a software-enabled virtual network operator (VNO) that provides enterprise connectivity services permitting secure access to information and applications on corporate networks from 150 countries. iPass has built a global Internet network that comprises 20,000 access points, including an iPass Global Broadband Roaming (GBR) footprint of nearly 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and 1,200 Ethernet enabled venues at business-oriented locations such as airports, hotels and conference centers worldwide.

TheiPassConnect service interface is marketed as simplifying the user connection experience and can be deployed across multiple computing devices and operating systems. iPass service offerings also give enhanced control over security policy and connectivity management to information technology departments at iPass users like General Motors, Dow Corning and Mellon Financial. Founded in 1996, iPass is headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif., with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.