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China Internet Roaming Hit By Clampdown

   ****China Internet Roaming Hit By Clampdown 08/18/97 HONG KONG, CHINA,
   1997 AUG 18 (NB) -- By Neil Taylor, IT Daily. Business travelers in
   China have had their Internet access hit by severe restrictions placed
   on roaming services by authorities.
   
   The trouble began a month ago, after officials began examining access
   services provided by Equant, a division of international airline
   network service provider SITA.
   
   Sources within SITA were unable to confirm the precise circumstances,
   but it appears that officials from within China's Posts Telephone and
   Telegraphs administration were unhappy with the fact that the company
   was reselling access to third parties including iPass, CompuServe and
   America Online.
   
   As a result, Equant was forced to suspend much of its non-airline
   business, including Internet roaming services. "We had to basically
   cut back on non-airline users, so this could be a case of our having
   to cut off some of the dead wood to save the airline side," a SITA
   executive admitted.
   
   "Our relationship with China is kind of up and down. It's not with the
   government; we get along with them fine; it's with the local PTTs," he
   added.
   
   The restrictions meant that iPass lost its points of presence (POPs)
   in Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shanghai and Xiamen. Following the closures,
   iPass also suspended POPs in Brunei, Cuba, French Polynesia, India,
   Burma, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vietnam.
   
   Among iPass partners affected by the clampdown, Hong Kong ISPs are
   likely to be worst affected. But Abel Lau, president of Hong Kong ISP
   I-Wave, said his company had not been badly hit by the problem.
   
   "We do not have many users in China, and they've been using access in
   Beijing, so we haven't had many problems." I-Wave estimates that
   "maybe one percent" of its members use iPass roaming services in
   China.
   
   Chris Moore, president and CEO of iPass, said his company would soon
   announce solutions for affected customers. "We are actively working on
   expanding our access in China," he said." We have several access
   points in Beijing and anticipate coverage in Shanghai, southern China
   and other parts of the country very soon."
   
   "We know China is a very important market," Moore told Newsbytes. "We
   were working with providers there before this situation arose. We have
   always been committed to that market and want to develop strong and
   lasting relationships with the right organizations. Our relationship
   with Equant (SITA) remains strong, this is an issue we worked closely
   on."
   
   (19970819/ Reported By Newsbytes News Network:
   [3]http://www.newsbytes.com /CHINASCREEN/PHOTO)
   
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