iPass adds T-Mobile and Inmarsat to global network
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3G fills the little gaps, while satellite fills the big ones iPass customers will soon be able to roam onto T-Mobile's UK network using their existing credentials, should they be too far from a Wi-Fi hotspot and wanting faster speeds than a satellite connection can provide.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Iridium Satellite LLC, the company that raised Motorola Inc.'s expensive space-based network from the ashes of bankruptcy, is now planning a new generation of satellites that may be able to continuously monitor the environment and take pictures of Earth. Iridium was launched in 1998 as a go-anywhere phone service aimed at executives, with outdoor coverage almost everywhere on the planet, including the north and south poles. But its high price and bulky handsets doomed the network to financial failure. The craft stayed aloft and the current company, which took over in 2000, has had more success selling data communications to government and industries such as shipping and aviation along with voice, according to Matt Desch, Iridium's chairman and CEO. Next week at the Satellite 2007 conference in Washington, D.C., the company will unveil an initiative called Iridium Next to build a next-generation network, or "constellation," of satellites. Over the next two years, Iridium will consider technologies and seek partners and financing for the system, which is expected to cost more than US$2 billion to build and deploy, becoming fully operational by 2016. Future services could include environmental monitoring, photography and a geographic positioning system to complement the current GPS (Global Positioning System), Desch said. The current system, consisting of 66 satellites that form a mesh network, provides a baseline speed of only 2.4K bps (bits per second) but supports voice calls, e-mail and exchange of some data such as a ship's position, Desch said. The next generation may have speeds up to 10M bps and provide a broadband data experience, he said. The new satellites may be able to constantly monitor environmental factors such as temperature and the level of the oceans around the world, according to Desch. They could constantly take pictures so enterprises or consumers could monitor facilities or homes anywhere in the world. And working with GPS, they could provide location accuracy down to feet or inches, he said. The next-generation system will be totally based on IP (Internet Protocol), making it easier for Iridium to take advantage of new technology advances and for enterprises to integrate services into their existing applications, according to the company. Iridium sells more data modems than handsets today, and with the next generation it hopes to bring those modems down to a single chip that can be built into more devices, Desch said. Iridium Next will gradually replace the current generation of satellites, which are expected to reach the end of their useful lives starting around 2014, Desch said. Iridium sells wholesale access to the network that is then resold by partners, Desch said. Voice calls cost end customers about US$0.80 to $1.50 per minute and data services are typically priced per packet, he said. Modems cost about $300 and handsets start at about $1,200.
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iPass wireless-broadband users will be able to make Internet connections on the fly, thanks to a new agreement between iPass and Boeing&#39;s Connexion in-flight Internet service.
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T-Mobile has signed an agreement with six international wireless telephony companies to simplify roaming and billing arrangements for customers using Wi-Fi around the world.
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Snacks on SunCom Wireless T-Mobile USA has gobbled up SunCom Wireless, looking to expand the country's fourth-leading cell phone network into Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the heart of the Southeastern United States. You know, the former confederacy.â¦
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The new facility will focus in part on geographical information systems and technologies for emerging markets.
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Communications aggregator iPass said Monday that it is adding in-flight Internet access to its access portfolio. Specifically, iPass said it will add access offered by Connexion by Boeing to its list of access providers.
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REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.âWi-Fi access provider iPass Inc. has tightened its grip on the business traveler market with a newly announced partnership with Connexion by Boeing that will give iPass enterprise
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SINGAPORE--Seven mobile operators in Asia-Pacific have joined forces in a new alliance, aiming to crank up the clout and appeal of service providers in the region.
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&quot;In addition, INSAT-based multiple satellite service terminals and Inmarsat-based satellite phones are being sent to Port Blair for deployment in far-flung areas of the islands devastated by the tsunami,&quot; he said.
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T-Mobile has announced that it has joined the Wireless Broadband Alliance&#39;s new Wi-Fi roaming agreement to allow worldwide roaming for mobile users.
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Business travelers will be able to  surf the Web securely on long-distance flights by combining  services from Boeing Co. BA.N and iPass Inc. IPAS.O, the  companies plan to announce on Monday.
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Telstra has launched Wi-fi roaming with five international wireless broadband operators giving Telstra customers travelling abroad access to WiFi hotspots in the UK (BT Group), USA (T-Mobile USA), Japan (NTT DoCoMo), Singapore (StarHub) and Malaysia (Maxis
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Wi-Fi hotspot owners BT Openzone, Singapore&#39;s StarHub, Malaysia&#39;s maxis, Japan&#39;s NTT Com, T-Mobile, Australia&#39;s Telstra and Telecom Italia have entered into a broad roaming agreement to allow each company&#39;s customers to access the others&#39; networks.
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Dual-mode handsets will be able to connect to the company's worldwide Wi-Fi network on the cheap.
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Accor North America has reached an agreement with T-Mobile USA Inc. to install wireless Internet access throughout all of its Red Roof Inns over the next year, officials said.
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Connexion by Boeing, the only real-time, high-speed connectivity service available to commercial airline passengers and iPass, which operates the world&#39;s largest Wi-Fi roaming network with over 11,000 active hotspots in 33 countries, complement each other