Aircell continues to pump up the volume ahead of its planned broadband service launch later this year, announcing a distribution agreement with leading WiFi service provider iPass.

Californian-based iPass is now an Aircell roaming partner, which means that iPass enterprise users or individual subscribers will be able to log on to Aircell’s inflight broadband service with their existing accreditation and will be charged for usage on their standard bills. The iPassConnect mobility manager software on their laptops and smartphones will give iPass customers one-click access to Gogo, Aircell’s service for air transport.

This first roaming partner agreement for Aircell gives the Colorado-based company access to iPass users in more than 3,500 US companies. iPass users can already roam on to more than 100,000 business-grade broadband locations (WiFi hotspots and hotel Ethernet), 3G cellular broadband in the USA, Europe and Asia, and dial-up in more than 160 countries. Integration with Gogo will add each airliner hotspot – the service is to be trialled on 15 American Airlines aircraft and implemented on Virgin America’s 30+ Airbuses – to this availability.

“iPass users will be able to integrate their on-the-ground and inflight Internet experiences on Gogo-serviced flights, avoiding several steps between ‘fasten your seatbelts’ and ‘going online,’” comments Robin Salem, SVP for strategy and business development at Aircell.