Telstra inks global roaming deal with iPass
United States-based iPass has already partnered with hundreds of dial-up, wireless, and broadband Internet service providers in around 160 countries.
Lynda O'Grady, managing director of convergent solutions at Telstra, said at a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday, that the partnership means companies with employees that travel frequently will no longer require multiple ISP accounts to access their corporate network.
"If you are overseas you can invoke some of the global roaming arrangements that iPass has put in place. Instead of having multiple sign-ins and passwords... it allows this with a single sign on with just one password and charged to just one Telstra bill," said O'Grady.
John Cunningham, sales manager for iPass, said that users of the service will not only have a simplified way of accessing their corporate network, they will also be more secure because the service enables administrators to enforce a security policy.
"The application makes sure the antivirus and personal firewall on the laptop are up and running prior to connection with the Internet. You can check the operating system is patched at the appropriate patch level and you can check the AV software is at the appropriate level for the user to be in compliance," said Cunningham.
The agreement with iPass is exclusive to Telstra till at least 2008, which means that the company's rivals, such as Optus, will not be able to offer a similar service using iPass's network.
"We have made arrangements with Telstra... As we announced we are only going to be doing this with select partners around the world,' said Cunningham.
Telstra's O'Grady said the company is currently only offering a tailored service to its largest enterprise customers but is working on developing an off-the-shelf package for smaller firms in 2006.
"We are developing a tailored version of this solution based on the needs of a range of different large customers... we are underway to have a more general generic offering that will enter the marketplace in April or May [2006], added O'Grady.