3GScottishUser
25th September 2006, 12:16 AM
From Gusrdian Unlimited (25/08/2006):
Orange will unveil its "converged" fixed and mobile phone service today, allowing customers to use a mobile handset to make unlimited calls through their broadband home internet connection.
Unique, to be launched in Britain later this year, will be available to customers who take an Orange mobile and broadband contract. The cost of the service is expected to be based on the company's range of "animal" tariffs. The phone, which connects to Orange's mobile network, as well as Livebox - which is used by many of its one million UK broadband customers to access the web - will be free
Unique - Unik in France - is the latest "converged" service to be offered by a telecoms company seeking to attract new customers and retain existing ones by persuading them to take a bundle of products.
In Britain, BT was first off the blocks with BT Fusion, which, like Unique, connects customers to their broadband service while at home and to a mobile network - in BT's case Vodafone - when they are out and about.
The mobile phone operator O2 has seen considerable success with Genion in Germany, offering cheap calls while a customer is in a particular area called a "homezone". O2 recently bought the internet service provider Be Broadband as a platform for converged services in the UK. It is expected to provide an update on its UK broadband plans within the next few months.
Vodafone and T-Mobile also intend to launch one-phone products. NTL's recent acquisition of Virgin Mobile is also likely to lead to a similar service. BT Fusion suffered a few teething problems with the technology that allows the phone to connect while the user is at home.
The Orange service will use the next generation of wi-fi phones. But the actual mobility of consumers will be hampered by technological constraints. While the handset can easily make calls on either the mobile network or wi-fi, there is no "handover" between the two. As a result, anyone starting a call at home and then, say, getting in their car and plugging the phone into their hands-free kit and driving off, will find that the call ends when they leave the coverage of their home internet connection. In contrast, O2's Genion only uses the mobile network, so calls made while in a "homezone" and continued outside it, are not dropped. T-Mobile has been looking at similar services in Britain.
Converged fixed and mobile services have come under fire from some consumer groups. While they offer the user a cheaper rate when making calls at home, anyone calling the customer is charged the price of a mobile phone call, regardless of where they are. Orange refused to comment on Unique.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1880111,00.html
Orange will unveil its "converged" fixed and mobile phone service today, allowing customers to use a mobile handset to make unlimited calls through their broadband home internet connection.
Unique, to be launched in Britain later this year, will be available to customers who take an Orange mobile and broadband contract. The cost of the service is expected to be based on the company's range of "animal" tariffs. The phone, which connects to Orange's mobile network, as well as Livebox - which is used by many of its one million UK broadband customers to access the web - will be free
Unique - Unik in France - is the latest "converged" service to be offered by a telecoms company seeking to attract new customers and retain existing ones by persuading them to take a bundle of products.
In Britain, BT was first off the blocks with BT Fusion, which, like Unique, connects customers to their broadband service while at home and to a mobile network - in BT's case Vodafone - when they are out and about.
The mobile phone operator O2 has seen considerable success with Genion in Germany, offering cheap calls while a customer is in a particular area called a "homezone". O2 recently bought the internet service provider Be Broadband as a platform for converged services in the UK. It is expected to provide an update on its UK broadband plans within the next few months.
Vodafone and T-Mobile also intend to launch one-phone products. NTL's recent acquisition of Virgin Mobile is also likely to lead to a similar service. BT Fusion suffered a few teething problems with the technology that allows the phone to connect while the user is at home.
The Orange service will use the next generation of wi-fi phones. But the actual mobility of consumers will be hampered by technological constraints. While the handset can easily make calls on either the mobile network or wi-fi, there is no "handover" between the two. As a result, anyone starting a call at home and then, say, getting in their car and plugging the phone into their hands-free kit and driving off, will find that the call ends when they leave the coverage of their home internet connection. In contrast, O2's Genion only uses the mobile network, so calls made while in a "homezone" and continued outside it, are not dropped. T-Mobile has been looking at similar services in Britain.
Converged fixed and mobile services have come under fire from some consumer groups. While they offer the user a cheaper rate when making calls at home, anyone calling the customer is charged the price of a mobile phone call, regardless of where they are. Orange refused to comment on Unique.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1880111,00.html