Siminn - Iceland Telecom to partner with TOGEWAnet AG and its WeRoam(r) Services to deliver WLAN roaming based on SIM technology. This major step enables Siminn to offer global mobile broadband data services to all of their existing and future customers simply by accessing one of the many WeRoam(r) enabled hotspots around the world. Siminn is the latest company to join the growing number of TOGEWAnet partners benefiting from the advantages of WeRoam(r).
Siminn, the major telecom operator of Iceland, can provide access to all its corporate and private customer to the extremely fast-growing number of WLAN hotspots worldwide through the partnership with WeRoam(r). These WLAN hotspots are part of a global network of secure access point by the unique features of WeRoam(r). By using WeRoam(r) Siminn positions itself to meet the growing demand of business customers to obtain secured and reliable broadband connections to corporate networks using VPN technology. Customer Care, provisioning and billing are running on the existing infrastructure of Siminn without any major investment or the need for new processes. For the user of the services nothing changes in his normal interaction with Siminn (his home operator) as all WLAN roaming connections are listed in the monthly GSM invoice.
WeRoam(r) provides a service bureau and aggregation service for Wireless ISPs and Mobile Operators wishing to enter the WLAN market. WeRoam(r) builds on its association with Comfone' GSM SS7, billing and clearing service, to enable a similar range of roaming services for the WLAN market. Through WeRoam(r), WISP' may gain connectivity with the networks of Mobile Operators, and vice versa, so that a common roaming platform is created with an extensive worldwide footprint. This is done with minimal up front cost and maximum use of existing network resources.
WeRoam(r) enables network roaming using the existing SS7 inter-operator signaling infrastructure. The end-user experience is akin to using a mobile phone -- whichever network he or she is on, the laptop or PDA will authenticate with the ``home'' network, and create a billing record in the home network. The user does not have to intervene with username, password, or any other such complication. The use of a SIM card (in fact a type of smart card) gives the operator the proven security of GSM phones and enables WLAN users to be provisioned and managed in the same way as mobile phone users. The system also supports users who do not have a SIM card or cellular account by interconnecting with existing RADIUS based billing and authentication systems. In this case, the benefits of cellular to WLAN integration are reduced but existing subscribers and ``walk-in' customers may still use the hotspots.
According to TOGEWAnet CEO, Toni Stadelmann, ``We are deeply satisfied by the partnership with Siminn not only by having the major telecom player of Iceland using the WeRoam(r) Services, but also by the easiness of connecting their GSM core network infrastructure to the WLAN roaming platform of WeRoam(r). This underlines once more that SIM based authentication is key for WLAN roaming by automatically supporting all relevant procedures for roaming, fraud prevention, billing and clearing. It also confirms the technological leadership and readiness of the standards implemented in WeRoam(r)."
