SANTA CLARA, CA and LONDON--(Marketwire - April 15, 2009) - Mobile broadband gateway
provider Stoke, Inc. and WiFi Internet access provider Trustive have formed
a partnership to research new technology architectures and business models
that will facilitate a seamless mobile broadband data experience for an
increasingly mobile workforce.
For the frequent business traveler, accessing wireless broadband coverage
is a challenge to the user's patience and wallet. The hourly fees charged
by hotspot operators are inflexible, location-specific and high. Even with
the pending clampdown in the European Union on excessive roaming charges,
staying connected as a business traveler is an expensive, unpredictable and
inconvenient task, requiring repeated web browser logins.
"Stoke and Trustive believe that we can combine our technologies to provide
the frequent international traveler with the same a seamless wireless
broadband experience regardless of whether that wireless access is within
their home operator's network, or the café hotspot in an airport three time
zones away," said Barry Hill, Vice President of marketing at Stoke.
"Mobile operators currently target their services primarily on domestic
customers and at the moment, subscribers who move outside of the operator's
coverage area are basically on their own."
Christian VanGhelder, Managing Director of Trustive, commented that "With
the success of the iPhone and new mobile devices that allow access through
WiFi and 3G as well as the advent of Voice over IP and high quality video
and streamed media, so called 'data traffic' has increased significantly.
This rise in demand for mobile broadband services can lead to potential
traffic performance issues for mobile operators. Now, additional
considerations also need to be taken into account for the future; the
emergence of new mobile devices with larger screens, new chipsets (with 3G,
WiFi and WiMAX embedded), operators' financial ability to improve the
current infrastructure and most importantly perhaps, the existing
'unlimited' mobile packages that are the proving to be the catalyst for
discussions regarding new architectures and new business and operating
models that will be able to provide a seamless user experience whilst
taking full advantage of the design point of each of the available
technologies beyond the traditional stovepipe view."
Stoke and Trustive offerings
Trustive gives travelers extensive WiFi coverage by combining the hotspot
locations of more than 70 leading WiFi hotspot operators in 74+ countries
into one unified, global network of more than 90,000 hotspots and allowing
Trustive customers access to these locations through a single username and
password. Stoke provides mobile broadband offload and coverage solutions
enabling operators to improve service delivery economics, coverage and
subscriber satisfaction. Stoke's gateways provide exponential improvements
in session density and cost per bit for carriers. As a result, operators
have an immediate means of adapting and scaling their mobile broadband
infrastructure to meet the surging demand for data, within the constraints
of sharply reduced capital expenditure budgets.
Stoke and Trustive believe that as usage patterns change, carriers must
develop new models that enable them to provide a well-priced and reliable
service for the increasingly mobile business user. The two companies will
investigate mechanisms to provide mobile broadband operators with a level
of control and accounting -- beyond common client and authentication --
that will provide both savings and incremental revenue streams to the
operator.
Areas of research will include:
-- Media independent handover of data sessions between different wireless
networks (i.e. WiMAX, HSPA, and WiFi)
-- Automatic connection and authentication regardless of the operator or
network type
-- Seamless application operations while mobile
-- Exploring multi-access, multi-radio networking potential with trends
in mobile broadband behavior
-- Cost minimization through wireless connection arbitrage
-- Alternate wireless access as part of a 3G offload strategy
-- The operators' competitive advantage of multi-network access service
bundles.
About Stoke
Stoke develops carrier-class mobile broadband gateways specifically
engineered to enable mobile and converged network operators to maximize the
economic returns of their 3G mobile networks. For more information, visit
http://www.stoke.com.
About Trustive
Following 5 years of heavy investment and the conclusion of strong roaming
agreements with 70+ hotspot operators in 74+ countries, Trustive is now
able to offer a seamless service that is both reliable and competitively
priced across a unified and ever expanding network of 90,000 WiFi hotspots.
For more information, visit
http://www.trustive.com.
Contact Information: Contact:
Mary McEvoy Carroll for Stoke, Inc.
Tel: + 1 408 691 4283
Email: