iPass Unveils Wi-Fi Exchange for Mobile Providers

iPass has debuted the iPass Open Mobile Exchange (OMX), allowing service providers to integrate Wi-Fi with 3G and 4G. iPass allows providers to connect customers to preferred Wi-Fi networks. The platform incorporates a commercial-grade Wi-Fi network with an authentication and transaction settlements infrastructure, allowing providers to introduce new services to capture the rapidly growing Wi-Fi enabled devices market.

“The next wave of Wi-Fi is becoming a mobile operator phenomenon, and it is our business to help telecom operators enter the Wi-Fi business with speed to market and a reduced cost and risk profile, without a need for additional capital investment,” said Evan Kaplan, president and CEO of iPass, in a statement. “By enabling operators to provide an integrated approach to mobility, iPass OMX positions them to participate in the second wave of Wi-Fi."

“A Wi-Fi exchange has the prospect of offering network operators multiple opportunities to generate services, revenue and an ability to reduce signalling load and steer traffic onto Wi-Fi at choke points in a cellular network,” said Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis, in a statement.

iPass OMX has already been adopted by Deutsche Telekom as part of its Wi-Fi Mobilize service, announced last month. Wi-Fi Mobilize is a new network services exchange for in-country and international roaming services, which can help numerous carrier partners of Deutsche Telekom across the globe to address the accelerating demand for data services on smartphone and tablet devices through Wi-Fi.