TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: The Wi-Fi in Your Handset

The Wi-Fi in Your Handset

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Sun, 30 Jul 2006 02:52:46 -0400

By MATT RICHTEL
The New York Times

What if, instead of burning up minutes on your cellphone plan, you
could make free or cheap calls over the wireless networks that allow
Internet access in many coffee shops, airports and homes?

New phones coming on the market will allow just that.

Instead of relying on standard cellphone networks, the phones will
make use of the anarchic global patchwork of so-called Wi-Fi
hotspots. Other models will be able to switch easily between the two
modes.

The phones, while a potential money-saver for consumers, could cause
big problems for cellphone companies. They have invested billions in
their nationwide networks of cell towers, and they could find that
customers are bypassing them in favor of Wi-Fi connections. The
struggling Bell operating companies could also suffer if the new
phones accelerate the trend toward cheap Internet-based calling,
reducing the need for a standard phone line in homes with wireless
networks.

The spottiness of wireless Internet coverage means that for now, the
phones will be more of a supplement to, rather than a replacement for,
standard cellphone service. But dozens of American cities and towns
are either building or considering wide-area wireless networks that
would allow Wi-Fi phones to connect and make free or cheap calls.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/29/technology/29phones.html?ex=1311825600&en=f4e35ba52faa0380&ei=5090

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