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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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XCom Global Connects Overseas Travelers to the Net on the Cheap

Kenneth Herskind

XCOM GLOBAL INC.

CEO: Seiji Nishimura.

President: Kenneth Herskind.

Net income or loss: Would not disclose.

No. of local employees: Seven in San Diego; 60 worldwide.

Headquarters: Sorrento Mesa.

Year founded: 2010.

Investor: Inter Communications Co. Ltd.

What makes the company innovative: Overseas travelers can save up to 90 percent compared to what they would pay to access foreign cellular or Internet networks to get e-mail and browse the Web.

Kenneth Herskind describes his rental business based here in San Diego as “the Netflix of international wireless data access.”

Herskind is president of XCom Global Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese-based Inter Communications Co. Ltd., which rents mobile routers and modems for a daily charge that allow travelers to tap Wi-Fi or wireless hot spots overseas without additional costs.

Just as in the United States, Wi-Fi access can be found at major hotels, cafes and offices, as well as other public places in foreign countries. But accessing hot spots internationally can be costly if you don’t have an account with the local Internet service provider. Many hotels, for example, charge more than $20 a day, plus other fees such as taxes.

XCom Global rents its wireless routers for $17.95 a day and USB modems for $14.95 a day. (It is currently running a promotion that trims $3 and $2 respectively off the regular pricing through Dec. 31.)

San Diego-based Novatel Wireless Inc. designed and manufacturers the diminutive routers that can fit in the pocket of a sport jacket.

Access in 135 Countries

The devices operate in 135 countries where the company has signed agreements with local service providers. It is looking to sign more.

Customers must rent a router for each country they visit, because each has different technical access requirements. For example, travelers visiting five countries would have to rent five devices. The daily price applies to each device. But renting more than one still represents a substantial savings over local access charges.

Departing travelers rent the devices at the company’s Web site. They are shipped via overnight delivery. When travelers return, they return the devices to XCom Global using the same overnight service.

“It’s just like a DVD movie rental,” Herskind said.

This business model makes his an innovative company, since travelers can save up to 90 percent compared to what they would pay to access foreign cellular or Internet networks to get e-mail and browse the Web, he said.

Sometimes, local cellular charges can add up to thousands of dollars in bills, Herskind said. “It can get very expensive.”

“The major U.S. carriers have data plans overseas, but they are expensive,” he said.

Key Feature Is Unlimited Use

Unlimited access to the Internet is a key selling point for customers, he emphasized.

Herskind said XCom Global customers include such users as attorneys from large law firms and technology managers and executives, who require access to the Internet to conduct business and traffic in large amounts of data. The customer profile also includes vacationers who simply want to stay in touch with the folks back home.

He says 60 percent of revenues come from business travelers, while the remaining 40 percent come from leisure travelers.

Those travelers can connect up to five devices, such as laptops, mobile phones and digital cameras at the same time. This capability makes it easy for those traveling in groups to share a single access point.

Herskind is no stranger to Japan. He started visiting Japan as an exchange student while attending Illinois State University, and he later worked there, spending about seven years total in the land of the rising sun.

Convenient Locale

He said he chose to locate the business in San Diego because of its climate, and because of its proximity to Asia — his job frequently requires traveling back and forth to the home office in Tokyo.

“I could have gone anywhere, because I like it here; it’s a great place to do business,” Herskind said.

His Tokyo-based parent firm started out renting cell phones to business travelers for overseas use, but decided to go into the wireless data rental business two years ago. The router and modem rental business proved much more lucrative, Herskind said.

The service has received very positive reviews in the trade press, such as Engadget.com and PCMag.com.

Engadget Associate Editor Darren Murph said the rental option gives travelers helpful tools.

“I think it’s a total boon for avid travelers — particularly business travelers,” Murph said. “The ease of renting a product in your own country, with your own currency, before heading out is amazing — one less thing to worry about when you land in a foreign land.”

Communications Option

Miguel Aragon, a principal at dairy products provider Proforze Inc. in Chino, and his brother, used the service on a trip to France and Germany in mid-October and paid only $234. Previously, he said he used a service provided by AT&T for his iPhone that promised lower charges, but the tab still came to more than $400.

“We were trying to figure how not to break the bank and this was the way to go,” he said.

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