T-Mobile to offer converged Wi-Fi and cellular service

Nortel announced at the 2006 CeBit trade show that T-Mobile plans to launch a new converged Wi-Fi and cellular service, which will use Nortel's network equipment. The new service, targeting the business customers, will enable T-Mobile customers to use their laptops and PDAs to make video calls, video conferencing, IM, etc. while moving between Wi-Fi and cellular networks without suffering a dropped connection. Moreover, customers will be able to use one phone number to be reached both on the Wi-Fi and the cellular network. The T-Mobile's converged service will be based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard and will be able to work over 3G, EDGE, GPRS and Wi-Fi technology. 

The service is expected to be initially launched in Germany this summer. T-mobile customers will be able choose from a range of pricing plans, including the existing ˆ35 (US$42) monthly plan with additional ˆ1 per day of actual use, 5GB downloads limit on the cellular network and 200 hours use on the Wi-Fi network.

Source: InfoWorld