T-Mobile USA has rolled out 802.1x security across its U.S. hotspots in a bid to make its Wi-Fi service more appealing to enterprise users.

The IEEE standard ensures that traffic from the customer's device to the access point is unreadable by anyone eavesdropping in the vicinity.

"CIOs across the country have been asking for enhanced security and we're the first U.S. wireless carrier to deliver it," said Joe Sims, vice president and general manager of the T-Mobile HotSpot service, in a statement.

"It will enable IT managers and business professionals to use T-Mobile HotSpot as a more secure virtual extension of their corporate networks and offices," he said.

Software supporting 802.1x will be automatically pushed out to subscribers in an upgraded "Connection Manager" client. The new software is also available on CD from T-Mobile outlets.

T-Mobile is touting the fact that it is the only national hotspot operator to deploy 802.1x, though others are addressing security: for instance iPass announced fingerprint authentication this week.

T-Mobile has implemented 802.1x in more than 4,700 locations, excluding a handful of airport locations that will be upgraded later this year.

"[It is] a very early move that is both bold and timely," said Nigel Ballard, director of wireless at Matrix Networks. "It will shut up any naysayer or critic [in IT departments]," he enthused.