WorldCell is an American-based

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

that provides international

mobile service Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

to federal agencies, international businesses, and individual travelers.

History

WorldCell was formed in 1996. The

privately owned company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

was founded by Blake Swensrud as International Mobile Communications, Inc., and began primarily as a retail mobile phone service, renting international

cell phones A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive Telephone call, calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phone ...

to travelers, businesses, and relief organizations. After

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...

and the advent of the wars in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, WorldCell shifted its focus to providing wireless management services to corporations, federal agencies, and the US military, transitioning its rental service to its TravelComm division. It later added

satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefo ...

s and service to its list of products, enabling its customers to communicate from remote locations. In 2002, IMC Inc launched the Viking Wireless

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

network through its subsidiary IMC Ísland ehf, officially categorizing the company as a carrier (as opposed to a "reseller"). In 2005 the company was re-branded as WorldCell. Shortly after, Worldcell signed a five-year purchasing contract with the Army's Information Technology, E-Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4)- West Two years later, in 2007, WorldCell signed several agreements with international mobile technology companies, such as Aicent, Inc and Accuris Networks. WorldCell currently administers managed wireless services and secure data plans to the federal government, including the military, and commercial organizations, using agreements with overseas carriers such as

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

, O2, KPN, and Docomo. WorldCell's headquarters are in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

, a few miles outside of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In addition to its corporate headquarters, WorldCell has offices in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Subsidiaries

WorldCell is the parent company of three additional entities: TravelComm, IMC Ísland, and Alterna. TravelComm is a retail service that rents cell phones to United States customers traveling abroad. TravelComm's services are used by international business travelers, vacationers, and college students studying abroad. TravelComm has recently added US Domestic service to its list of products. IMC Ísland is a licensed Iceland-based mobile operator. IMC uses the Viking Wireless GSM network and has access to multiple international

networks. WorldCell is able to offer international wireless service through IMC's networks, as well as through roaming agreements and

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)A SIM card or SIM (subscriber identity module) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are u ...

s. IMC Ísland launched Alterna Telecom, a new company that provides mobile service to local users in

, in late 2009. IMC and Alterna also announced that they will be cooperating with

Síminn Síminn hf. (, ; also known as Iceland Telecom Ltd.), previously named Landssíminn (, ), is an Icelandic telecommunications company. It offers communication services for both private and corporate clients, including mobile ( 4G/ 5G), landline, i ...

, a mobile provider with the largest 3G network in Iceland. Alterna began testing its service with a group of beta customers in 2009 and transitioned these trial subscriptions to paid plans in 2010.

References

External links

WorldCell

TravelComm

Alterna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worldcell 1996 establishments in Maryland American companies established in 1996 Companies based in Rockville, Maryland Arms industry Telecommunications companies established in 1996