IPass Launches Wi-Fi for BlackBerry Platform

IPass has launched iPassConnect Client for BlackBerry (News - Alert) -- a global enterprise Wi-Fi client for the BlackBerry platform.

IPass supports such smartphones as the iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian-based smartphones. Now iPass (News - Alert) Mobile Office corporate customers "can provide their employees with access to nearly 140,000 hotspots in 83 countries," company officials say.

Despite 3G connectivity on many devices, "the advanced applications currently in use from vendors such as Oracle, Siebel, Salesforce.com and Microsoft (News - Alert) demand the wider bandwidth associated with Wi-Fi for fuller functionality and greater usability," iPass officials say.

With access to what company officials claim is "the world's largest Wi-Fi hotspot network," enterprises can "avoid expensive roaming charges" and get "predictable and transparent" monthly mobility costs.

They're certainly riding a growing market. This year noted tech research firm Gartner (News - Alert) said the global smartphone market is growing by 27 percent year-on-year to 40.9 million units.

And hey: It'll be huge in Belgium. "Independent research conducted with 300 Belgian companies showed that while laptops remain the most used device for Internet access abroad, BlackBerry ranked top in the smartphone category with 59 percent," said Steven Van den Neucker, Director Mobile Telenet Solutions. "Now that iPass is offering support for BlackBerry smartphones, we can satisfy this demand and provide a global Wi-Fi connectivity service for these users."

IPass is available for all current and future Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones. And as part of the iPass Mobile Office service "there are no additional contracts to sign, start-up fees to pay, or credentials to manage," company officials say.

A couple weeks ago TMC's Anil Sharma reported that Telenet, a provider of media and telecommunication services in Belgium, selected iPass software and services to underpin its new TelenetConnect offering.

Thanks to the new service, Sharma wrote, "Telenet business customers would now be able to connect to the iPass virtual network, including the largest global Wi-Fi footprint available today spanning 85 countries, all for a single per user flat rate price."