improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . april 2010 this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . april 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message worldcell inc. type privately owned industry telecommunications founded 1996 as international mobile communication inc. founder blake swensrud chairman headquarters washington dc metro area website www.worldcell.com worldcell is an american based corporation that provides international mobile service to federal agencies international businesses and individual travelers . contents 1 history 2 subsidiaries 3 references 4 external links history edit worldcell was formed in 1996 . the privately owned company was originally founded by blake swensrud as international mobile communications inc. and began primarily as a retail mobile phone service renting international cell phones to travelers businesses and relief organizations . 1 after september 11 and the advent of the wars in afghanistan and iraq worldcell shifted its focus 2 to providing wireless management services to corporations federal agencies and the us military transitioning its rental service to its travelcomm division . 3 it later added satellite phones and service to its list of products enabling its customers to communicate from remote locations . 4 in 2002 imc inc launched the viking wireless gsm network through its subsidiary imc sland ehf officially categorizing the company as a carrier as opposed to a reseller . 5 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 6 two years later in 2007 worldcell signed several agreements with international mobile technology companies such as aicent inc 7 and accuris networks . 8 worldcell currently administers managed wireless services and secure data plans to the federal government 9 including the military 10 and commercial organizations using agreements with overseas carriers such as vodafone o2 kpn and docomo . 11 worldcell s headquarters are based in rockville maryland a few miles outside of washington dc . in addition to its corporate headquarters worldcell has offices in reykjav k iceland and tokyo japan . subsidiaries edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . february 2012 worldcell is the parent company of three additional entities travelcomm imc sland 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 12 vacationers and college students studying abroad . travelcomm has recently added us domestic service to its list of products . 13 imc sland is a licensed iceland based mobile operator . 14 imc uses the viking wireless gsm network and has access to multiple international gsm networks . worldcell is able to offer international wireless service through imc s networks as well as through roaming agreements and sim cards . 15 imc sland launched alterna telecom a new company that will provide mobile service to local users in iceland in late 2009 . imc and alterna also announced recently that they will be cooperating with s minn a mobile provider with the largest 3g network in iceland . alterna began testing its service with a group of beta customers in 2009 and will transition these trial subscriptions to paid plans in 2010 . 16 references edit stefanova kristina . ceo touts global reach of firm s wireless phones . knight ridder tribune business news . august 22 1999 . irwin neil . as economy stalled firms revamped to stay afloat . financial times information ltd. 2002 . johnson nicholas . satellite phones go to war . the washington post . washington d.c. mar 13 2003 . pg . e. 01 imc worldcell offers iridium phones service . rcr wireless news 15330796 8 13 2001 vol . 20 issue 33 viking lands in iceland . europemedia sept 18 2002 worldcell awarded five year purchasing agreement with u.s. army for wireless voice and data services . indefense ind 5 october 2006 worldcell takes data roaming global with aicent business wire . find articles . 2007 10 17 . retrieved 2011 12 10 . accuris networks and worldcell develop next generation international roaming hub service business wire . find articles . 2007 02 27 . retrieved 2011 12 10 . mccullagh declan . obama s new blackberry the nsa s secure pda cnet.com . january 13 2009 . http news.cnet.com obamas new blackberry the nsas secure pda tag newsleadstoriesarea .1 md based worldcell inc. awarded contract by u.s. air force europe . the daily record . baltimore md mar 17 2006 meyers jason . telephony . chicago mar 3 1997 . vol . 232 iss . 9 ; pg . 125 1 pgs feemster ron . rent a phone lose a headache . inc. june 30 2001 . 1 archived march 5 2010 at the wayback machine . skr fyrirt ki . p st og fjarskiptastofnun . december 2011 . 2 archived march 4 2010 at the wayback machine . alterna . alterna.is . retrieved 2011 12 10 . external links edit worldcell travelcomm alterna retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title worldcell & oldid 727165536 categories companies based in marylandcompanies established in 1996military industryhidden categories articles with wayback machine linksorphaned articles from april 2010all orphaned articlesarticles with a promotional tone from april 2011all articles with a promotional tonepages using infobox company with unsupported 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