I was reading articles about UMA. It seems that the marriage of GSM and WiFi is happening for real.

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Stephen G on April 18, 2006  · 

When the $200 Skype Wi-Fi phones come out in a few months the mobile providres will finally learn what the term “disruptive technology” means.

With the optional Skype-out an Skype-in features, this will replace a cellular mobile phone for a large demographic.

Here’s SMC’s offering … which they say availability is May, 2006.
http://techplanetasia.com/convergence/index.php/article/567

Netgear has announced a Skype Wi-Fi phone … which they reported should be available in this quarter yet (Apr – June, 2006).

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pablotossi on April 19, 2006  · 

…do you love this???

http://www.celularis.com/tecnologia/menu-de-los-telefonos-gsmwifi-o-uma.php

😉

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pippo on April 19, 2006  · 

http://www.telekom3.de/en-p/medi/3-ne/2005/3-sp/cont/pict/050901-ifa-produkte-fs.html

This is an interesting solution as well.
Deutsche Telekom (T-Com) will launch this product in the third quarter. It could boost Hotspot usage in Germany…

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sara on April 19, 2006  · 

skype will probably offer a skypeout nimber in every large city so that even without wifi or fon one can call a local number and get into skypeout and then call long sistance home, paying both the local callson both endsof the candle
Of course with wifi fon , one can also make the call free via skypeout.just paying the local call on the receivers end. imagin if fon had a messenger of its own which automatically piksup wherever u might be and allows you to just get onine via fon and then talk to family via fon messenger net 2 net instead of then using ms.messenger or a fonout allowing a skypeout copy but directly in fon. Fon would then be a PHONE

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cmairhof on April 19, 2006  · 

GSM and WiFi marriage I think is important for FON and its future. I saw a potential threat of HSDPA and 3G network launches in Europe to FON. However if thez get combined and FON is structuring the deal right it cna hit very big in Europe…
And tes, I am using IP calling to 99% of the time. GSM is done 🙂
What do I miss – A perfect WiFi network

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Roy S. on April 20, 2006  · 

Hi Martin,

I e-mailed you before about UMA. Fon will not profit from this, because it’s a solution at the network manager side. In this case a solution for companies that are both ISP and (mobile) telecom operator. I mentioned Orange and Wanadoo as an example (both France Telecom) they manage the internet connection (Wandoo livebox) and manage the mobile GSM/GPRS connection.

regards,
Roy

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Stephen G on April 20, 2006  · 

While the mobile providers dick around trying to figure out how to offer UMA without cannibalizing existing revenues, Broadvoice is coming out with an alternate approach — a dual wi-fi/gsm device where the two technologies are NOT married. i.e., no handoff of a call from Wi-Fi to GSM, or vice-versa.

Nope — this baby, named the “Falcon”, is like having two separate devices in one handset. You get two phone numbers — one from Broadvoice for Wi-Fi calls, and the other the GSM number from your mobile provider. Configure Broadvoice so unanswered calls to the Wi-Fi number get forwarded to the GSM phone number and then you never need to give your your GSM number out. http://www.broadvoice.com/press/falcon-2005-04-10.html
$20/mo unlimited calling (21 countries).

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Antoin O Lachtnain on April 20, 2006  · 

Roy,

What use is UMA for the operator if they don’t have a massive network of wi-fi hotspots that its customers can actually use to get wi-fi coverage? That’s where FON comes in.

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Roy S. on April 22, 2006  · 

@antoin

There is a shift from fixed line to mobile, because people use their “personal” mobile phone to place calls at home and on the road. This is the reason British telecom developed the “Bluephone” (was one of the participants in UMA development).

Ask yourself…where do you use your phone 80% of the time? on the road or at the office&home?

Cable companies that offer TV, internet services and act as a MVNO can profit even more than FON from this if they only see the potential. One bill = convenience. And you don’t want to switch manually to select another service provider/network to use the same function (calling) at a certain moment….you want convenience…but that’s my opinion.

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