Nokia and DT Demo WiFi/GSM/WCDMA Phone

[jones]

http://press.nokia.com/PR/200603/1038886_5.html

Where Fixed Line and Mobile Merge: Nokia and Deutsche Telekom Group Pilot Dual Mode Telephony
March 13, 2006




Bonn/Hanover, Germany and Espoo, Finland - Deutsche Telekom Group announced T-One, an integrated dual-mode telephony solution combining the benefits of fixed line and mobile communications, which is being piloted on Nokia N80 and Nokia E60 devices. T-One will offer customers a simple and convenient way to access both fixed line and mobile data services on the aforementioned Nokia devices. Using the WLAN enabled Nokia N80 and Nokia E60 devices, customers will be able to use the same data and voice services from home or on the go through a T-Com HotSpot.

Together, Nokia and T-Com, a division of Deutsche Telekom Group, are testing Internet Protocol (IP) convergence solutions on the Nokia N80 and Nokia E60 devices.

"The Internet and mobile communications are coming together faster than anyone expected. We're delighted to work with Germany's leading operator, the Deutsche Telekom Group, in the mobile and Internet space to offer new possibilities for people to communicate in a flexible way with the T-One solution," said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president of Multimedia Experiences at Nokia.

"We are very pleased to be opening the door to the future of multimedia and broadband telecommunications by engaging in this pilot with Nokia", said Achim Berg, a member of the T-Com Board of Management, Marketing and Sales.

The Nokia E60 and the Nokia N80 are the first Nokia devices that are able to support SIP-based Internet Calls. Both of these devices work on GSM, WCDMA and WLAN networks. The Nokia N80 is the first ever handset to enable seamless home media networking between compatible TVs, audio systems and PCs.


About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com

Media Enquiries:

Nokia, Multimedia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34383

Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.office@nokia.com

www.nokia.com

[ShoresGuy]

Sounds like a cool device. I should pitch in here and clarify a few things about DT's structure in Germany since T-Com doesn't resell any wireless services. Deutsche Telekom breaks down into 4 divisions:

T-Com - DT's landline division

T-Mobile - DT's wireless division

T-Online - DT's ISP division, being reintegrated into T-Com

T-Punkt - DT's retail store network, they resell all of Deutsche Telekom's services, not a separate division but not attached directly to T-Com or T-Mobile.

T-Systems - Technical and network infrastructure division that mainly looks after DT's satellite, cable, VoIP and other physical networks

Source: http://www.telekom3.de/en-p/cont/gro...tartseite.html

[jones]

The good news is it will be first offered in Germany.

CeBIT: T-Mobile Blends Cellular, Wi-Fi Service

Customers will be able to roam across networks without losing their connections.

Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service
Monday, March 13, 2006


HANOVER, GERMANY -- T-Mobile International will start offering a converged Wi-Fi and cellular service this summer, using network equipment from Nortel Networks, Nortel announced at CeBIT.


The service will first become available in Germany, said Husam Azrak, a T-Mobile spokesman.

T-Mobile customers will be able to use laptops and PDAs to use services such as video calling, video conferencing, and IM even as they move between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Their connections won't be dropped as they move between the networks and the customer can use one phone number to be reached regardless of which network they are near, Nortel said.

Customers will be able to connect to any of the 6000 T-Mobile and T-Com hotspots in Germany, which cover train stations, cafes, and other locations. They won't, however, be able to use the service via other hotspots such as those in homes or offices, Azrak said.

The companies are demonstrating the capability, which will work over 3G, EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), and Wi-Fi, at CeBIT.

The service will be geared toward business customers who will be able to use the service to access enterprise applications, T-Mobile said.


Additional Options
In addition to PC cards and converged handsets, users will also be able to connect using laptops from Fujitsu-Siemens Computers that come with embedded Wi-Fi and the high-speed HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology, Azrak said. The laptops are expected to become commercially available in the second quarter.

Users will be able to choose from different pricing models including an existing tariff that costs $42 per month plus an additional $1.20 per day of actual use. The plan limits downloads to 5GB on the cellular network and 200 hours of use on the Wi-Fi network, Azrak said.

Operators and vendors have been discussing such converged services recently but few have been commercially launched yet. BT Group has a service in the U.K. that allows users to roam from a cellular network onto a Wi-Fi network but it's limited only to the user's home Wi-Fi network.

BT and others support a UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access), a technology geared toward enabling mobile operators to offer converged services. T-Mobile's system will be based on SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), an open standard that can also be used to deliver converged services.

T-Mobile operates hotspots around the globe so this service could combine T-Mobile's cellular and Wi-Fi networks. T-Mobile already offers customers the T-Mobile MDA Pro, a PDA that includes both Wi-Fi and cellular.

For more coverage from the world's largest technology show, go to our CeBIT News page.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125064,00.asp

[ShoresGuy]

Incredible , I'll have to keep an eye out for it come summer.