Birdstep Signs Technology Agreement with iPass.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2002

Birdstep Technology Inc. today announced that it will provide support for the emerging Generic Interface Specification (GIS) proposed by iPass.

Birdstep's IP Zone wireless access software will now be GIS-ready, enabling mobile operators to easily join the iPass network and offer high-speed, secure access to corporate users.

GIS is an open-standard protocol that allows access gateway vendors and wireless ISPs to authenticate and grant access from an 802.11-enabled device, such as a laptop or PDA, over many disparate Wi-Fi networks.

"With support from access gateway vendors such as Birdstep, we are gaining traction for an industry-standard access protocol," said Anurag Lal, vice president, business development for iPass. "Mobile operators deploying Birdstep's IP Zone software will have GIS functionality built-in and therefore, can easily add their Wi-Fi hot spots to the iPass network."

As part of its Global Broadband Roaming service, iPass has been aggregating hot spot locations both in the United States and internationally and has more than 400 wireless hot spots worldwide. iPass allows mobile operators to provide enterprise customers with secure, high-speed wireless access to business-critical applications from any location.

Based on the 802.11 standard, Wi-Fi (or WLAN) is a wireless broadband solution that scales from small locations, such as homes or coffee shops, to very large public areas, such as airports and convention centers. According to market research firm In-Stat/MDR, the number of wireless hot spots in the U.S. alone will soar from less than 2,000 locations in 2001 to more than 41,000 in 2006.

"Birdstep is proud to join the movement to create a single standard protocol," said Hans-Arne L'orange, chief executive officer for Birdstep Technology. "We believe that GIS will accelerate the adoption cycle for Wi-Fi access by satisfying the growing need to roam between disparate networks."

Birdstep's IP Zone software is a platform-independent family of products for implementing and administering wireless zones or hot spots. Designed for public or enterprise wireless access areas, IP Zone Server software provides cross platform authentication so that users can access the Internet and network applications.

IP Zone software also offers billing and content management for mobile operators and enterprise customers. It enables site owners and service providers to offer free or pay-per-minute Internet access and content, creating a viable revenue stream.

As part of this agreement, Birdstep has made its Intelligent Mobile IP technology interoperable with iPassConnect(TM) client. Birdstep's Mobile IP client enables users and applications to move seamlessly across different types of infrastructures, such as WLAN, LAN, GPRS, GSM, CDMA2000, Bluetooth and others, without interrupting the connection or causing application downtime.

About Birdstep Technology

Birdstep Technology was founded in Oslo, Norway in 1996 and is traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) under ticker "BIRD." The company has approximately 80 employees in Oslo and Seattle. Birdstep's small footprint, high performance database technologies combined with its wireless roaming and access software enables companies to build innovative solutions for embedded systems and the Mobile Internet. Named a 2002 Comet Award winner by Communication Systems Design magazine, Birdstep makes your information accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device and on any infrastructure. For more information, visit www.birdstep.com.

About iPass

iPass Inc. solves the complex issues of increasingly mobile workforces accessing their corporate networks, e-mail and the Internet from anywhere in the world. iPass enables secure access via wireless and wireline broadband, ISDN, dial-up and other access media, over multiple computer platforms and devices, all through the award winning easy-to-deploy and easy-to-use iPassConnect(TM) client. iPass counts among its enterprise and service provider customers many of the most recognizable corporate brands and "Global 1000" companies. Founded in 1996 and named one of the "Top 100 Emerging Companies to Watch in 2002" by Computerworld magazine, iPass is headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif., with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.