Etisalat Nigeria plans to unveil a Wi-Fi data roaming service that will enable its subscribers who travel abroad to connect their smartphones and tablets to millions of Wi-Fi hotspots following a deal with U.S.-based iPass.
Etisalat Group, the Middle East’s largest telecoms operator with over 167 million subscribers in its markets and owners of Etisalat Nigeria, has announced a pact with iPass Inc., the global Wi-Fi roaming provider for enterprises and telecoms service providers to roll out Wi-Fi roaming on the Etisalat Nigeria network and across its subsidiaries.
UAE-based Etisalat says it has joined the iPass Open Mobile Exchange (iPass OMX) to offer its consumer and enterprise customers a global Wi-Fi data roaming service that will be available on iPhone, iPad and Android-based devices.
Etisalat Group operates in 16 countries with over 167 million subscribers and the mobile phone company says it will roll out the new service in phases in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Nigeria in 2012, followed by other operating companies in their regions.
According to Essa AlHaddad, Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Group, “Etisalat is one of the global telecommunication industry’s innovation pacesetters. I am pleased we can increasingly use our Group-wide strength to give our partner operators access to new services demanded by customers.”
He adds that, “by joining the iPass Open Mobile Exchange, Etisalat will enable our customers to move around the world with a new cost-effective way of staying in touch with their businesses, family and friends.”
Steve Livingston, iPass senior vice president of carrier development says that, “as the Middle East’s largest telecom operator, Etisalat continues to lead in innovation and the company’s technological expertise has helped it secure subscribers across the Middle East, Africa and Asia”
According to him, “the iPass Open Mobile Exchange allows Etisalat to bring a global Wi-Fi roaming solution into their product portfolio supported by the world’s largest Wi-Fi network that could alter the way their consumers roam abroad in the future.”
Etisalat expects to leverage the reach of iPass OMX which is the world’s largest commercial Wi-Fi Roaming and Exchange platform for telecoms service providers that supplies connections to the world’s largest commercial Wi-Fi network.
Through a single interface, iPass connects over 140 Wi-Fi network operators with certified WISPr interoperability in 113 countries and territories worldwide.
iPass delivers the world’s largest commercial-grade Wi-Fi network and trusted connectivity platform. With more than one million Wi-Fi hotspots across 113 countries and territories, iPass gives its customers always-on, frictionless connectivity anywhere in the world that is simple, secure and cost-effective, the U.S. company says.
Source: Technology Times
