Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
Whether it’s Paris in the spring or the Côte d’Azur this summer, the iPass mobile network has got you covered. Our diligent team has increased our Wi-Fi footprint in France thanks to our Wi-Fi partner, Trustive. The increased number of internet hotspots adds hotels, restaurants, campsites and cafés all through France, including all the Starbucks in Paris.
If, unlike me, you are heading to Cannes next month for the film festival check out our hotspot finder so you can ensure you stay connected throughout your stay.
The Paris airshow in June will also be a big draw with over 140,000 people in attendance from all over the globe. If you’ve never visited the show (or its sister show in England, The Farnborough Airshow) both events are worth a trip if you have aviation running through your blood.
As Christian Venghelder, managing director at our partner Trustive, put it: “Wi-Fi is cheaper, faster and easier than 3G and demand is increasing exponentially thanks to the growing popularity of an ever increasing range of Wi-Fi enabled devices. We’re delighted to partner with iPass and look forward to welcoming iPass customers onto our network of premium Wi-Fi hotspots across France.”
For a complete list of iPass Wi-Fi hotspots throughout France and around the world visit the iPass Hotspot Finder.
Voilà: 2,400 More Wi-Fi Hotspots in France for iPass Travelers >>
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
Via CC 2.0
Poland here we come!
A substantial number of iPass users have been asking us when would we expand the iPass Mobile Network coverage in Poland and true to form our European team has delivered on its promise to provide wider coverage with PTC, “one of the most recognizable and most-trusted telecom brands in Poland.”
Many iPass users see Poland as important to their business and mobility requirements. As one of the Guardian newspaper journalists wrote recently: “Being in Warsaw these days is like being in Madrid or Rome.”
According to Ernst & Young, Poland is also ranked 25th in the most globalized economies of the world, ahead of such countries as the United States. It is also the only country in the European Union to weather the recession of the last two years and in 2010 its economy grew 4 percent and some predictions for 2011 show an increase yet again.
So if you’re traveling in Poland take advantage of the growing iPass Mobile Network and connect at:
2012 is also going to be a big year for Poland as it welcomes the 2012 European football championships and the country is already busy with preparations. So if you’re planning to visit Poland next year, you might want to time your visit there appropriately! For a complete list of iPass Wi-Fi hotspots in Poland and around the world visit Hotspot Finder 2.0.
iPass Expands Mobile Network in Poland with PTC >>
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
We announced a partnership with Virgin Trains, one click will get you connected when you need it most and when you are able to enjoy commuting either on the way to work, returning home or on a business trip.
Nomad’s technology expertise originated within the rail market, and since 2002, the company has deployed a number of leading edge mobile IP solutions including the first passenger Wi-Fi service. Nomad has rail customers across the globe including UK, Europe, North America, Middle East, India and China.
So now if you are traveling from London to Scotland, Birmingham, North Wales, Manchester or Liverpool, you have the comfort of knowing you can make efficient use of your time working and communicating.
Alongside Virgin Trains, let me also remind you we also have coverage on East Midlands Trains that transports you between London St Pancras International and the East Midlands.
Enjoy your travels!
Planes, Trains and Automobiles >>
Friday, February 11th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
Mobile World Congress starts next week and it will be the first time in five years that I am not going. Boohoo for me. But as anyone knows, it’s one of the most arduous shows to work – especially when you are stuck in the exhibition hall for nearly 12 hours followed by meetings, interviews, catching up with your day job, dinner and of course the inevitable drinks.
For those who don’t know much about the show – it’s the Olympics for everything that relates to mobile communication and ironically, is located at the foot of where the 1992 summer Olympics were held in Barcelona. 50,000 suited and booted attendees (not including all the people who are there weeks before setting up the event) will descend on Barcelona during this weekend; they will have their pick of 1,300 exhibition stands to visit and no doubt multiple meetings set up to discuss business.
Hotels will double and triple their prices, restaurants will be packed and it will be Christmas all over again for Barcelona’s pick pockets.
While it might not be the size of CEBIT in Germany, the event has all the industry players, (ok, minus – Apple) and is really indicative of what trends and discussions will be the focus for 2011.
The event is truly global in its reach with most exhibitors from Asia, Europe and North America.
My guess is there will be interesting news from Nokia, Ericsson, ZTE, Qualcomm and a few others. HP has already announced its intention to make tablets while Nokia has said it needs to leap after Apple and Google even though it is still the number one in sales of phones (not just smartphones) worldwide.
One trend that will be discussed is the shift in the balance of power from hardware to software. While devices access the networks it’s the software that is driving increased usage of the network. People want to access their cloud-based applications, web browse or email and the device manufacturers are finding the landscape has changed.
On a side note, it was great news to read yesterday that President Barack Obama is backing a plan to have wireless broadband reach 98 percent of Americans by future auctions of (old television) airwaves, which the White House estimated would raise more than $27 billion.
At Northern Michigan University yesterday, President Obama said: “This is a new century, and we can’t expect tomorrow’s economy to take root using yesterday’s infrastructure. We [have] got to think about what’s the next thing…and make sure that we’re at the forefront — just like we were in the last century. Today, new companies are going to seek out the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods and information, whether they are in Shanghai or in Chicago. So if we want new jobs and businesses here in America, we’ve got to have the best transportation system and the best communication network in the world.”
So look out for some cool new gadgets being announced next week and what the device’s software features will be and remember the devices themselves are relatively cheap – it’s the networks that are expensive.
Be sure to check out our posts next week straight from Mobile World Congress.
A busy week for Mobile >>
Monday, January 31st, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
Akamai, a cloud-based services company that optimizes Web and mobile content and applications, released its State of the Internet Report last week and revealed that mobile consumption, as expected, is increasing. For some mobile providers their customers’ average monthly volume of data consumed doubled year-over-year.
There was good news for mobile workers too in that connection speeds also increased. Globally, the average connection speed reached nearly 2 Mbps and it was in Asia where the fastest connection speeds can be found with South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan leading the way. Connection speeds in Taiwan increased 24 percent reaching an average connection speed of 5 Mbps. The United States still lags behind in 12th place but leads in as the top source of observed attack traffic.
Overall this is good news for mobile workers around the world as improved connectivity, faster speeds and more enterprise applications are made available on multiple devices. One of the Gartner Group’s recent predictions state that one-third of static business intelligence functionality will be accessed on smartphones and tablets by 2013 as business intelligence vendors will offer mobile ‘app’ versions of their applications.
State of the Internet >>
