iPass Inc.
announced today agreements with five European and one Asian Wi-Fi (802.11b) providers that will enhance and extend the reach of the iPass Global Broadband Roaming (GBR) service into airports, hotels and business centers in six countries.
The agreements are with the Copenhagen Airport of Denmark, Kubi Wireless of Spain, Megabeam of the United Kingdom, Monzoon Networks of Switzerland and Germany, Wificom of France and StarHub of Singapore.

“The iPass vision is to maximize the productivity of the mobile workforce of any enterprise from any location in the world,” said Ken Denman, chief executive officer of iPass. “By working with leading and visionary regional providers, like those whose agreements we announce today, iPass is accelerating the creation of a global broadband Wi-Fi access offering that can be trusted by enterprise IT managers and CIOs.”

iPass will work with these six providers so that their Wi-Fi hotspot locations are ready for enterprise usage and interoperable with Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other security policy management systems. Once the hotspot locations interoperate with these enterprise-required systems, iPass plans to integrate them into its award-winning iPassConnect?Emobile access client.

“The biggest obstacle facing the corporate IT director in managing mobile connectivity is adopting new and compelling technologies that improve worker productivity in a secure fashion,” said Amy Cravens of In-Stat/MDR. “iPass has been very thorough in ensuring that this fundamental need is addressed, keeping control of the access to the corporate network under the IT department.”

Among the new Wi-Fi locations covered under the new agreements are six of the largest and most trafficked airports in the world. The Copenhagen Airport (CPH) is its own Wi-Fi provider while Megabeam will provide wireless Internet service to both Rome (FCO) and Milan (MIL) airports, Monzoon will provide service to the Zurich airport (ZRH) and Kubi Wireless will provide service in selected lounges in the Madrid (MAD) and Barcelona (BCN) airports.

In Singapore, StarHub will be providing service to the Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Center (Suntec City), one of the largest convention centers in Asia.

These locations will join over 400 domestic US and international Wi-Fi hotspot locations currently available on the company`s GBR service, including airports in Austin, Texas (AUS), Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas (DFW), Minneapolis, Minn. (MSP), San Jose, Calif. (SJC), and Seattle, Wash (SEA). In addition the GBR service provides over 100,000 wireline broadband access points in hotels.

“All of these providers are among the most aggressive in rolling out hotspots in key markets,” said Anurag Lal, vice president of business development at iPass. “Not only are they active players, they are making Wi-Fi service available in key travel venues frequented by enterprise business travelers. Their commercial and technical models are setting the tone for public Wi-Fi service in Europe and Asia.”

Kubi Wireless is deploying the first network in Spain providing wireless hotspots in high traffic areas. Kubi Wireless offers business travellers convenient, easy-to-use and cost-effective high-speed wireless Internet access in the places they need it most in order to stay productive.

“Monzoon is aggressively expanding its networks in Europa,” says Roland K?Ein, chairman and chief strategy officer at Monzoon Networks. “As an example, Monzoon just closed an agreement with a major international airline to offer its clients wireless Internet access in all its lounges, including New York`s John F. Kennedy. These locations are also planned to be part of the iPass service.”

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