Mobile working Toolkit

iPass finally lands BT Wi-Fi deal

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 13 Dec 2004 11:20 GMT

A deal has been reached that will allow mobile workers with a subscription to iPass to use BT's network of Wi-Fi hot spots.

The agreement, which is understood to follow months of negotiations between the two parties, was announced on Monday morning.

Network aggregator iPass lets its subscribers get Internet access through a large number of different networks worldwide. iPass already offers access through over 11,000 Wi-Fi hot spots, but this latest deal will boost its presence in the UK market.

Openzone owns several hundred hot spots at sites including Hilton and Ramada Jarvis hotels, McDonalds eateries, mainline railway stations and payphones -- on top of roaming deals with The Cloud and T-Mobile.

ZDNet UK reported last month that iPass was keen to secure a roaming deal with BT. An iPass spokesman said at the time that BT "have got to want to sell" access to Openzone. Chris Clark chief executive of BT Wireless Broadband, responded that his organisation was focusing on bigger players in the market.

iPass also launched a service called Endpoint Policy Management last month, which it claims lets an IT manager ensure that remote workers have the latest security patches and antivirus definitions before they are allowed online.