iPass introduces Wi-Fi roaming platform

CALIFORNIA, USA: iPass introduced iPass Open Mobile Exchange (iPass OMX), a platform for service providers to extend core mobility and Internet offerings by integrating Wi-Fi with 3G and 4G, and allowing providers to connect customers to preferred Wi-Fi networks.

“The next wave of Wi-Fi is becoming a mobile operator phenomenon, and it is our business to help telecom operators enter the Wi-Fi business with speed to market and a reduced cost and risk profile, without a need for additional capital investment,” said Evan Kaplan, president and CEO of iPass.

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“By enabling operators to provide an integrated approach to mobility, iPass OMX positions them to participate in the second wave of Wi-Fi. With Steve Livingston at the helm of our OMX offering, I’m confident that iPass can extend its highly reliable Wi-Fi exchange service to operators worldwide,” he added.

iPass also announced appointing Steve Livingston as senior vice president of carrier development to lead sales and marketing for the company’s new service provider business.

“A WiFi exchange has the prospect of offering network operators multiple opportunities to generate services, revenue and an ability to reduce signalling load and steer traffic onto WiFi at choke points in a cellular network,” said Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis. “Moreover, service providers can potentially monetise WiFi-only devices and on-loading of other operators’ customers.”

iPass OMX has already been adopted by Deutsche Telekom as part of its Wi-Fi Mobilize service, announced last month.