TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Nokia Starts Test of Wi-Fi Internet Mobile Calls

Nokia Starts Test of Wi-Fi Internet Mobile Calls

Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:41:22 -0500

Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker, has started its first
tests of a technology that allows users to roam seamlessly between
phone networks and local wireless hotspots such as Wi-Fi.

Fifty families in Oulu near the polar circle in northern Finland will
test the technology over the next two months, Nokia said on Thursday.

Mobile subscribers with handsets enabled for so-called unlicensed
mobile access, or UMA, can make calls over the Internet when they are
in range of an unlicensed wireless network such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

When they move out of range, the connection will automatically revert
to a GSM, GPRS or UMTS mobile phone network.

The technology has the advantage that carriers can add coverage, for
example in remote areas, at low cost with Wi-Fi hotspots instead of
having to build expensive base stations.

It could also encourage customers to use mobile phones at home instead
of having landline connections, if they have Wi-Fi at home.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.

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