T-Mobile @ Home Now Official
http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2006/10/tmobile_home_no.html
The New York Times' Ken Belson has the scoop on T-Mobile @ Home.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/technology/24mobile.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Long rumored, the service marks the first real entry in the USA of a
Fixed Mobile Convergence Play by one of the leading mobile operators. In
my view this is an important step and well timed, as T-Mobile gets out
of the box first with the announcement ahead of the Sprint/Cable MSO's.
Time Warner has previously acknowledged that it too is in trials along
the same line with Siemens, using BridgePort Network's Virtual Call
Continuity
technology that allows active calls to switch between WiFi or hard wired
access points connected to the T-W cable network and the Sprint Cellular
network without dropping the call.
Thank you.
Regards,
Peter
RAD-INFO, Inc. - NSP Strategist
We Help ISPs Connect & Communicate
813.963.5884 efax 530-323-7025
http://4isps.com
October 24, 2006
T-Mobile Tests Dual Wi-Fi and Cell Service
By KEN BELSON
Yesterday T-Mobile became the first major mobile phone carrier in the United
States to begin selling service that allows a single handset to communicate
over both cellular networks and Wi-Fi hot spots.
The first phones, which are available to consumers in Seattle on a trial
basis, link to T-Mobile's cellular network outdoors and to Wi-Fi routers at
homes, in offices and in other locations like airports and hotels. This lets
customers avoid using some of their cellular minutes and increases coverage
in places where signals are typically weak, like basements and rooms without
windows.
To gain access to the service, called T-Mobile HotSpot @Home, customers must
buy a phone that works on both networks. T-Mobile is selling a choice of two
handsets that cost $49.99 for customers who sign up for a two-year rate plan
for at least $39.99 a month. Subscribers are charged $19.99 a month in
addition to their regular cellular plan fees.
Customers also need a wireless router, which is free with a rebate. The
router is then connected to any available broadband line for home or office
use. The phones connect not just to the wireless router, but also at any of
7,000 Wi-Fi hot spots that T-Mobile operates at Starbucks coffee shops,
Hyatt Hotels and other public locations.
T-Mobile has set up a Web site, www.theonlyphoneyouneed.com, for customers
who want to sign up for the service.
Since customers can make unlimited calls using their broadband connections,
the service represents a threat to Vonage, SunRocket and other companies
that offer phone plans over high-speed Internet connections. The service
also gives T-Mobile a leg up in competing with Sprint and other cellular
carriers that are trying to develop similar services.
The dual-use phone service may appeal most to younger consumers who do not
have a traditional phone line and rely solely on cellular phones and
broadband lines.
"For the below-30 age segment, it's a no-brainer," said Roger Entner, a
wireless industry analyst at Ovum, a consulting firm. "This is also a threat
for other wireless carriers because it fixes the problem of poor coverage
inside homes."
Though consumers conceivably will use fewer cellular minutes with these
phones, Mr. Entner said T-Mobile still benefits because consumers have to
buy some kind of rate plan. T-Mobile can also lower its costs because some
phone traffic that would otherwise travel on its cellular network will move
to a competitor's broadband network.
T-Mobile may also avoid having to build as many base stations and antennas
to reach inside homes and offices.
A company spokesman, Peter Dobrow, declined to say how long the trial in the
Seattle area would continue, or on T-Mobile's plans to introduce the service
elsewhere.
Earlier this month, however, Robert Dotson, the chief executive of T-Mobile
USA, said his company would develop services that would eliminate the need
for traditional phones.
Sprint has been working with cable companies to come up with services that
integrate its cellular network with the broadband and video services offered
by cable companies.
RAD-INFO, Inc.
813.963.5884
--
Regards,
Peter
RAD-INFO, Inc. - NSP Strategist
We Help ISPs Connect & Communicate
813.963.5884
http://4isps.com/newsletter.htm
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