Sify Launches International Roaming Broadband With iPass; Compared To GPRS?
By Nikhil Pahwa - Thu 29 May 2008 07:07 AM PST
Sify has launched an international roaming broadband service called Roam Connect International, allowing Sify customers to access wireless broadband service on the move. Sify claims to have more than 100,000 broadband locations globally, including at airports, hotels, conference centers and retail venues. For this Sify has tied up with NASDAQ listed iPass.
I suppose broadband on roaming works rather well for net-addicted people like me, but it does boil down to the cost of access. I just checked with Airtel the rates they’re charging for roaming. I’m not going to any of these places in the near future, but anyway, here goes:
-- UK: tie-up with Orange for US$4 per kb
-- USA: tie-up with T-Mobile for US$1 for 1kb
-- Spain: tie-up with Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) for 6 Euro per kb
-- Singapore: tie-up with SmartOne for Singapore $6 per kb
-- Malaysia: tie-up with TimeCell for Malaysian $25 per kb
-- Hong Kong: tie-up with Hutchison for $5 for 1kb
The advantage of GPRS is that it’s always available; the Sify and iPass combo will have to beat that in terms of cost, as well as distribution. Depends entirely on the urgency for a user.
