WeRoam enlarges WLAN roaming activities in North America


WeRoam enlarges WLAN roaming activities in North America / New partnerships with Surf and Sip, FatPort and Concourse dramatically extend hotspot network.


Berne / San Francisco / Chicago / Vancouver, April 6, 2004 -/Wi-Fi Technology News/- The global WLAN roaming platform WeRoam, a service offered by Swiss-based TOGEWAnet AG, will be announcing three new strategic partnerships at the "WLAN Event" congress which is due to open in London today.

In Surf and Sip, FatPort and Concourse, WeRoam has succeeded in adding three of the most renowned and successful Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) in North America to its group of partners and, at the same time, in extending its WLAN roaming network by over 500 hotspot locations. This underscores WeRoam's global strategy. Over 8,000 hotspots worldwide have already connected to the WeRoam network.

Surf and Sip provides high-speed wireless Internet access in cafes, hotels, restaurants and other high traffic public establishments. The company has developed, and continues to rapidly expand, a national network of today more than 300 locations in the US. In the UK Surf and Sip operates the WLAN access at the well-known "Caff? Nero" coffee shops.

Concourse Communications is a leading operator of in-building, wireless networks in large, communications-intensive properties. In particular, Concourse is well-known for managing wireless, voice and data networks in airports. Today Concourse operates 28 Wi-Fi hotspots at several airports nationwide.

FatPort operates the most extensive network of hotspots in Canada with over 150 locations. The focus of the company is to provide the millions of mobile workers with immediate high-speed access to their email, company's intranet, or any other internet activity they require.

Being a neutral roaming platform, WeRoam builds a bridge between the WISPs as hotspot operators and well-known mobile operators and telecommunications companies, whose clients subsequently gain access to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the world. By providing the roaming services, WeRoam is also serving the authentication and clearing. What's more: WeRoam provides WLAN users with comfortable and secure, wireless Internet access through SIM authentication. This removes the need for cumbersome voucher cards, temporary passwords and similar time-consuming login processes: The SIM card and a PIN are all that is needed.

WeRoam is exhibitor at the Wireless LAN Event in London, Europe's largest exhibition for wireless public Wi-Fi network access solutions!
(London 6th - 7th April 2004, Olympia, Stand 913 / WeRoam)

As the leading developer of neutral host Wireless Access systems, Concourse Communications is redefining wireless communications services at major U.S. airports and other commercial venues, including LaGuardia, JFK, Newark Liberty, Detroit Wayne Country and Minneapolis/St.Paul International airports. These systems support wireless voice, data and video services offered by commercial wireless service providers, airport operators and their tenants.
http://www.concoursecommunications.com

FatPort is Canada's most extensive wireless Internet service provider (WISP) and provider of Wi-Fi (802.11b) turnkey solutions. FatPort's custom-built FatPoint wireless access point enables location owners to quickly establish a commercial FatZone. In each FatZone, anyone with a wireless-enabled laptop or PDA may access the Internet at speeds many times faster than cellular networks. FatPort is now offering Voice over IP through its newly formed division, mobitus. FatPort is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ignition Point Technologies Corporation (TSX-VEN: IPN).
http://www.fatport.com

Surf and Sip provides high-speed wireless Internet access in cafes, hotels, restaurants and other high traffic public establishments. With speeds 20-50 times faster than traditional dial-up Internet and the freedom of wireless, the Surf and Sip Network is changing the way people access the Internet. Customers can access the Surf and Sip Network with either their own laptop or handheld device, or through rental SurfStation computers, which are placed at most Surf and Sip locations. Either way they receive blazing fast internet in the places they want it most.
http://www.surfandsip.com

WeRoam is the trading name of Swiss company TOGEWAnet AG. Established in 2001 and owned by TOGEWA Holding and Infonet Services Corporation, WeRoam specializes in mobility management and roaming optimization solutions for the mobile and wireless telecommunications sector.

The WeRoam service facilitates the seamless integration of WLAN and GSM network technologies, enabling global roaming for WLAN services and thereafter facilitating automatic and secures roaming between WLAN, GSM and GPRS. Key solutions found in GSM technology have been adopted to make up the WeRoam service, which provides secure authentication, signaling conversion, clearing and settlement services (based on TAP - Transferred Account Procedure) and management of contractual roaming agreements. This positions WeRoam as the only open roaming platform supporting all relevant authenticcation methods for WLAN Roaming such as SIM, Radius and EAP SIM. Registration is pending to patent WeRoam' innovative SIM based WLAN Roaming technology.

The subscriber will benefit from greater roaming coverage and the convenience of swapping between different standards with the additional advantage of having a single identity, thus receiving only one bill from his home network operator despite having visited a number of operators and countries and having used different mobile standards.

Close ties with its' sister company, Comfone AG, also founded by the umbrella company of TOGEWA Group, allow TOGEWAnet to benefit from Comfone' depth of experience in offering a wide range of roaming services to GSM operators.
http://www.weroam.com .