Stranded in an airport overseas waiting to go through customs? Wish you could check your stocks or e-mail?

Cisco Systems Tuesday said it is working with Internet access providers across Europe to equip international airports with Cisco Mobile Office, the company's wireless technology.

The technology will be marketed to business travelers who are looking for high-speed, secure Internet access.

Currently, a total of 19 airports in Europe, Middle East and Africa are using the technology, including Munich airport, Copenhagen Airport and Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey.

Cisco's Mobile IP solution is a combo wired and wireless products and technologies, including Aironet Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE), Building Broadband Service Manager (BBSM) software, and Cisco's Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology.

The San Jose, Calif.-based computer-networking equipment maker says the network is successful maintains the same connection and IP address during travel. The technology is based on a mobile node (laptop, PDA, etc.), a Mobile IP enabled Cisco router, which is called the "home agent," and a foreign agent, which is a router that sits in a foreign network.

The home agent keeps tracks all the functions of the mobile node including the IP address, security binding policies, and authentication. When traveling, the mobile node is passed from one foreign agent to another. Once the foreign agent is authenticated, a tunnel is established between the two agents, so the connection is maintained.

For example, as the second busiest German airport, Munich airport handles up to 96,000 passengers a day and is a key hub for the traveling business community in Germany. To enable business travelers to use their time constructively while at the airport, Munich offers wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access in terminal 1.

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"The terminal has become a point of international communication, not just for passing through," said Michael Zaddach, Vice President Information Systems at Munich International Airport. "With Cisco's equipment we can help ensure that business travelers are able to conduct business while waiting for their flights. Waiting time has been made active time."

The Mobile Networks functionality is currently available in Cisco IOS software release 12.2(4)T and runs on all Cisco routers.

The market seems eager to support wireless technology in major traffic hubs like airports. Research firm IDC predicts that by 2006 there could be approximately 18,000 venues offering wireless and fixed connectivity in Western Europe.

"Offering WLAN access to visitors will help location owners, like airport authorities, retain and gain visitor satisfaction. In addition, mobile operators are interested in providing WLAN access to complement their GPRS and UMTS offerings," said IDC analyst Jan Hein.