BG Group secures Wi-Fi access for field staff

From the UK to the gas fields of Kazakhstan...

Energy giant, BG Group, has quadrupled the number of workers connecting remotely each day with the rollout of a secure wireless access service that makes it easier for remote staff to log on to email, internet and corporate applications.

The service from iPass is being rolled out to BG Group's entire remote workforce of 1,200 employees worldwide.

The iPass corporate access service will integrate with BG Group's existing Checkpoint virtual private networks, Sygate firewalls and RSA authentication systems.

UK workers are already using the system but one of the key factors when BG went out to procurement was wireless service availability for BG Group staff in the key exploration territory of Kazakhstan.

Nigel Fletcher, IM mobile segment manager at BG Group, said the nature of the global energy market requires the organisation to be extremely dynamic and fast in its ability to respond to new natural gas discoveries around the world.

"Keeping our remote workers connected to corporate systems, the internet and email is imperative to the smooth running of our business, however, it is also essential that connections are secure and that data is not compromised," he said in a statement.

iPass partner ETT is helping with the delivery and support for the BG Group rollout.

In a separate announcement, iPass has said it will work with Ultimaco to encrypt data held on the hard drives of mobile devices, guarding against some of the risks associated with a device being stolen or lost.