Orange Business Services is expanding its enterprise mobility offerings through a new partnership with iPass, a leading provider of software and services for managing and securing remote access to networks via laptops and handhelds.

Orange Business Services will integrate the iPassConnect platform and iPass network with its Business Everywhere mobile data offering. Orange will provide a fully managed service based on the iPass products. The service will feature global network reach and around-the-clock customer support services.

The combined Orange/iPass offerings will be targeted at multinational corporations, which need to control mobile access to corporate resources.

"We expect interest across the board, not in any particular vertical industries," says Jacques Demael, a senior vice president of Orange Business Services. "What’s really important is that the company has people out there needing to access the corporate network remotely."

The two companies will work together on new versions of iPassConnect that feature enhanced mobile data support, improved credential management and support for Microsoft Vista and IPv6, an upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol, IPv4.

"We think the iPass solution before any development is quite strong in terms of the stability of the software and its ability to work over various PC configurations," Demael says. "The things we will be developing around are in mobile data support."

Demael says Orange Business plans to target the combined offerings at 300 of its customers, which need enhanced remote access services.

Currently, Orange Business Services has 200,000 customers worldwide for its Business Everywhere mobile data service. These customers include employees of such major corporations as Universal Music Group.

"We will have pilot customers coming live during the summer," Demael says. "Commercial availability is planned for the end of September or early October."

Orange Business Services offers Wi-Fi service in 80 countries with 90,000 hot spots worldwide. It also offers dial-in service in 140 countries. By January, the service provider will offer broadband mobile data service in 10 countries.

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