InformationWeek

ISPs Help Travelers Save

By Tom Davey

nternet service providers are adding value by networking-and sharing their customers-w ith other ISPs all over the world. This lets users traveling in foreign countries save considerable amounts on long-distance connect charges.

For example, a user from the United States who is traveling in Thailand has to pay at least $3 per minute to connect to a dial-up port in the United States. But through an organization of ISPs, the user can link to a Thai ISP and pay only a fraction of the cost of a long-distance connection.

Companies such as AimQuest Corp. in Milpitas, Calif., and i-Pass Alliance in Mountain View, Calif., are organizing ISPs into these alliances and providing them with software to establish and settle billing arrangements. AimQuest says it has linked 100 ISPs at 1,100 locations in 38 countries. I-Pass says it has 250 ISP members and dial-up ports at 1,080 locations in 150 countries.

"I signed up for AimQuest's Internet roaming service when I was about to go to Asia on a recruiting trip," says Frank Tansey, associate VP of enrollment services at Sonoma State University in Ro hnert Park, Calif. The university has a direct node through a dedicated line to the Internet.

On Tansey's trip to several countries in Asia, the ability to dial locally saved money and helped reduce the time it takes to process student admissions. "I met with a Japanese student who had applied for admission. I E-mailed back to my office, found out the status of his application, and I supplied more information," Tansey says. "Without this, I would have kept notes on our conversation. Hopefully, I'd find them after three weeks of travel, then I'd mail him his admission. I reduced a month-long process to less than 24 hours."

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