April 5, 2006
Red Herring
Wireless companies hope a technology called UMA will keep their customers from using VoIP services like Skype.
Wireless phone companies, worried their customers may start using VoIP services like Skype as Wi-Fi-enabled phones become commonplace, are lining up behind an alternate technology called UMA.
UMA, short for Unlicensed Mobile Access, would allow calls to move seamlessly from the GSM (global system for mobile communications) cellular network to Wi-Fi networks. More important to the cell companies, it would let the operators retain control over the call and charge the customer for the time.
With Skype and some other VoIP services, customers would be able to call for free once their phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network. With some U.S. cities now proposing free citywide Wi-Fi services, that could mean billions in lost revenue for the wireless firms.
UMA also offers some advantages for the customer. For one thing, in UMA the phone numbers remain the same no matter what network is in use. With Skype, customers have to store and dial the numbers from a separate address book.
On the other hand, customers may be able to download and install the Skype software themselves, while UMA only works with special UMA-enabled phones.
It isn’t yet clear how much UMA calls would cost compared to existing long-distance service, but the cost is expected to be significantly lower.
Still, the technology has its critics, including William Quigley, managing director of Clearstone Venture Partners, which has invested in Divitas, a company focusing on a competing technology.
“UMA is a technology developed by carriers that just does not have a business justification,” he said.
Hot Topic
Nonetheless, the idea of blending Wi-Fi with existing cell service is a hot topic at this week’s CTIA trade show in Las Vegas where wireless companies are showing off their latest wares. Several companies have been exploring ways to hand over calls from Wi-Fi to cellular networks, but the task has proven to be more difficult than expected.
Kineto Wireless, a Milpitas, California-based startup, has been developing and testing UMA for the last two years. Mobile giants like Nokia and Motorola are supporting the technology on their devices and on networks.
The technology gained more support this week as Texas Instruments, the leading chip maker for cellular phones, announced it is including Kineto’s software in its mobile Wi-Fi platforms.
Nokia and Motorola have developed UMA software for their phones, but the TI deal should help other manufacturers to produce UMA devices.
Going Global
British Telecom in the United Kingdom has already launched a UMA service called Fusion, but instead of Wi-Fi, BT uses Bluetooth as an alternative access technology.
Most likely a full UMA service will not be available before the second half of this year, said Kineto marketing director Steven Shaw. He believes TeliaSonera of Sweden may be the first mobile company to offer a commercial UMA service.
Others that have been active in the area are Telecom Italia and T-Mobile in the United States.
Until now, UMA has been limited to home use because UMA phones weren’t able to roam in just any Wi-Fi hot spot available. An authentication process is required when a phone connects to Wi-Fi for the first time.
However, Boingo, a worldwide Wi-Fi hot spot provider, said Wednesday at the CTIA trade show that it is providing its access points to carriers deploying UMA services. Boingo currently has more than 25,000 hot spots around the world in places like airports and cafés.
Service Extended
So far, Boingo has provided Wi-Fi access to laptop users only. But with the new software developed for mobile devices, the service has now been extended to phones as well, said Colby Goff, senior vice president of strategy and business development at Boingo.
UMA’s global extension will not be widely available immediately, however. Boingo software runs only on the Windows Mobile operating system, but no UMA phone with Windows Mobile is currently available on the market.
The partnership with Kineto is not the first of its kind for Boingo. The company joined forces with Skype last summer (see Wireless Skype with Boingo).
Skype users can utilize Boingo’s Wi-Fi network with their laptops by subscribing to a service called Skype Zones for $7.95 a month.
Original Article |
