BELLEVUE, Wash.-T-Mobile USA Inc. reported a distribution agreement with iPass Inc., enabling corporations to access T-Mobile USA’s HotSpot Wi-Fi network through the iPass virtual network and its iPassConnect service interface. The agreement, which T-Mobile USA said represented its first inbound roaming agreement, is expected to provide users with access to approximately 6,900 Wi-Fi hot spots around the world as well as more than 1,200 wired broadband venues.
Analysts have noted that T-Mobile USA accepting inbound roaming onto its Wi-Fi network was necessary for the market to take off, citing the carrier’s industry-leading deployment of nearly 3,900 hot-spot locations across the country.
“T-Mobile has been very aggressive in building and promoting what is now North America’s largest single commercial Wi-Fi network,” said Pyramid Research analyst John Yunker. “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.”
