T-Mobile to Launch HotSpot at Home in June?

[Andy]

T-Mobile to Launch HotSpot at Home in June? E-mail
T-Mobile
Written by Humberto Saabedra
Thursday, 03 May 2007
T-Mobile has announced that they are ready to deploy their UMA service dubbed HotSpot @Home as soon as mid-June of this year.

The carrier has been trialling the Wi-Fi/GSM service in the Seattle area and will offer handsets from Samsung and Nokia as well as a router with custom firmware for free with $50 rebate, although interested customers will still be able to use their current router.

The service will cost an additional $20 per month with each additional line being an additional $5 dollars with the possibility of adding an analog phonejack for sharing the service throughout the entire home at some point.

The service is intended to help customers save plan minutes and provide additional coverage around the country by leveraging their HotSpot network as well as improving indoor coverage for those customers that have less than adequate service.

Trial users have stated that technological issues such as battery life and handoffs have been improved considerably since launching the service last year, though it remains to be seen whether the improvements can lure customers that cite battery life as one of the major criteria for purchasing a new phone.

[Andy]

I did not see this posted anywhere- sorry if this is a double post.
This sounds like a very, very good service and I know we have discussed this in the past. It will be interesting to see how this pans out- seriously, high speed cable connections are just wasted if we don't use them for streaming video/audio and VOIP so this is a great idea...what do you guys all think about the price of the new service?

[bobolito]

If the service is to cost me an additional $20/month just to improve indoor coverage at home, I rather swich to a carrier that has indoor coverage at my house. I think it would be cheaper to just switch to Verizon or Cingular in the long run. The only exception would be if none of the carriers have any coverage indoors. A wireless cellular repeater could be an option as well since it has no montly fee, but if we calcuate it at the going rate of $20/month the wireless repeater would take about two years to pay for itself. But the good thing is you don't have to buy a new phone or deal with battery life issues inherent with WiFi.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by bobolito

If the service is to cost me an additional $20/month just to improve indoor coverage at home, I rather swich to a carrier that has indoor coverage at my house. I think it would be cheaper to just switch to Verizon or Cingular in the long run. The only exception would be if none of the carriers have any coverage indoors. A wireless cellular repeater could be an option as well since it has no montly fee, but if we calcuate it at the going rate of $20/month the wireless repeater would take about two years to pay for itself. But the good thing is you don't have to buy a new phone or deal with battery life issues inherent with WiFi.

You are right- unless coverage is bad with all carriers, there really is no need to pay $20 per month just to have indoor coverage, but the good thing about this is that you have unlimited calling over your WiFi, which would mean that you don't really have to pay for a home phone (even though VOIP is cheaper than $20). I dunno it's a toss up, but I'm sure it will be good for a lot of people.

[Andy]

T-Mobile to Go Wi-Fi in June

T-Mobile will roll out its Wi-Fi cellular phone service nationwide in June, reports the Wall Street Journal (via GigaOM). The service allows cellphones to jump onto Wi-Fi networks to help its consumer save money and increase reception.

With a successful run in Seattle under its belt, the "Hotspot at Home" service will launch with a line of dual mode phones using a standard called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA).

T-Mobile will also invite consumers to take calls via its network of Wi-Fi "hotspots" available at participating cafes and restaurants, such as Starbucks and Panera Bread.

T-Mobile attempted to roll out a similar service called T One through parent company Deutsche Telekom in Germany. The service was withdrawn for lack of interest.

http://www.marketingvox.com/archives...wi-fi-in-june/

[TNDan21]

Originally Posted by bobolito

If the service is to cost me an additional $20/month just to improve indoor coverage at home, I rather swich to a carrier that has indoor coverage at my house.

I think it's a pretty sweet deal. For $20 a month you get Unlimited Wifi calling at home and at any T-Mobile hotspot. Then while on a regular wireless network only then do you use your plan minutes.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by TNDan21

I think it's a pretty sweet deal. For $20 a month you get Unlimited Wifi calling at home and at any T-Mobile hotspot. Then while on a regular wireless network only then do you use your plan minutes.

You make a good point. I wonder if there is a seamless handover from Wifi to the cellular network? Thinking about it, this may really help people move towards only having a cell phone, especially as more and more households have high speed internet connections (I guess this wouldn't be possible with DSL where a landline phone is required).

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Andy

T-Mobile to Go Wi-Fi in June

T-Mobile will roll out its Wi-Fi cellular phone service nationwide in June, reports the Wall Street Journal (via GigaOM). The service allows cellphones to jump onto Wi-Fi networks to help its consumer save money and increase reception.

With a successful run in Seattle under its belt, the "Hotspot at Home" service will launch with a line of dual mode phones using a standard called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA).

T-Mobile will also invite consumers to take calls via its network of Wi-Fi "hotspots" available at participating cafes and restaurants, such as Starbucks and Panera Bread.

T-Mobile attempted to roll out a similar service called T One through parent company Deutsche Telekom in Germany. The service was withdrawn for lack of interest.

http://www.marketingvox.com/archives...wi-fi-in-june/

My bet is that will happen here too. I do not think people would pay the $20 per month just for home use. If I have a choice I would take VOIP first and we all know that one can get those for a comparable price.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Andy

I wonder if there is a seamless handover from Wifi to the cellular network?

That has been the biggest challenge from what I've read.

(I guess this wouldn't be possible with DSL where a landline phone is required).

You can get "naked" DSL in some places. I think Verizon is planning on offering across their footprint, if they don't do so already.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Matt

That has been the biggest challenge from what I've read.



You can get "naked" DSL in some places. I think Verizon is planning on offering across their footprint, if they don't do so already.

That is true- interesting that you mention that because I've heard about the "naked" DSL before. Personally, I would rather pay $20 more on my cell phone and have free calling at home, any T-Mobile Hot Spot, than get a second phone number for home VOIP. I'd rather have one number where people can reach me at and this service would make that possible.

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

My bet is that will happen here too. I do not think people would pay the $20 per month just for home use. If I have a choice I would take VOIP first and we all know that one can get those for a comparable price.

If you don't have a landline at home I think this is a good deal. Think of the benefits. You use the same number, you don't use your minutes, you can use it in more places than just your home (other WiFi Hotspots), and its unlimited usage. The only downsides are that you need to get a new phone, battery life is probably quite limited (WiFi is a battery hog), and quite possibly you'll need to lock/extend into a new contract (because you have to buy a new phone), plus the need for high-speed internet and a wireless router. So it has its good and bad things and it is not for everyone. Some people prefer to have a dedicated landline (or VoIP line) because of the way their family uses the phone so you may not want everyone at home sharing your cell phone. So this might work for couples without kids, or those who live alone.

These issues wouldn't come into play if the service was tweaked a bit so that it allows a VoIP gateway box generate a dialtone so you can connect your regular cordless phone and this way have the service available in both your cell phone and your cordless phone, both under the same phone number. This allows you to extend your cell phone battery life because you wouldn't be using your cell phone at home.

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by Andy

You make a good point. I wonder if there is a seamless handover from Wifi to the cellular network?

Not at the moment (GSM/CDMA/WCDMA don't use IP), but give it a few years and it may be possible. I'm sure there's a nerd in a labroom somewhere working on it as we speak

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by Andy

You make a good point. I wonder if there is a seamless handover from Wifi to the cellular network?

Oops, I stand to correct my previous post . It IS possible to make a seamless handover between WiFi and GSM/UMTS TODAY. HOWEVER your network provider must have a UMA network controller in their network, and you need to have an UMA enabled dual-mode phone.

...since these are both pretty rare today, I'd still stand by my comment of "give it a few years"


http://www.umatoday.com/pdf/UMA_AppNote_DMH_07.pdf

[clock3687]

Originally Posted by esto

Oops, I stand to correct my previous post . It IS possible to make a seamless handover between WiFi and GSM/UMTS TODAY. HOWEVER your network provider must have a UMA network controller in their network, and you need to have an UMA enabled dual-mode phone.

...since these are both pretty rare today, I'd still stand by my comment of "give it a few years"


http://www.umatoday.com/pdf/UMA_AppNote_DMH_07.pdf

T-Mobile has been testing this out in seattle for almost a year now. There are two UMA capable handsets, the Samsung t709 and the Nokia 6136. T-mo has a website here that promotes it. I think that they will push it out soon enough they need it.