* Dual-network access update
Convergence in handheld devices has been on the mobility radar as an imminent, key enabling trend. Eventually, enough integration elements will come together to allow voice/data users to seamlessly roam among Wi-Fi networks and cellular WANs.
Together, access to the two types of networks in a single device should offer higher throughput inside businesses and hot spots (Wi-Fi) and better coverage in more remote areas (cellular). When appropriately integrated, the combo should ease user pain of having to re-start sessions, reauthenticate and lose calls across network boundaries.
For now, we’re at the stage where phones with access to multiple wireless networks are just emerging.
As usual, Asia has beaten the U.S. to the punch: Last week, NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s biggest mobile phone carrier, made available NEC N900iL dual-network handsets for corporate use. The phones have access to both 802.11b Wi-Fi networks and to DoCoMo’s Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) cellular WAN, which runs at 64K to 384K bit/sec and which DoCoMo considers a 3G network.
Users can receive incoming calls on either the WAN, corporate wireless LAN or both – but not yet in hot spots.
In other vendor activity, the fourth quarter expects to see the long-awaited shipment of the Motorola CN620 handset, a dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi (802.11a) flip phone that can make and receive voice calls on a cellular network or enterprise WLAN. The phone has been integrated with Avaya’s Enterprise Seamless Mobility infrastructure, co-developed with WLAN vendor Proxim, and the phone is to be available from Avaya resellers.
The infrastructure will reportedly allow CN620 users to roam between cellular and corporate voice-over-WLAN networks, supporting Avaya PBX-phone features even when out of the office.
Finally, the Nokia 9500 Communicator, which supports 802.11b and EDGE cellular connections, is currently available in select markets in Europe. It is due to ship in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2005, according to a company spokeswoman.
However, the Wi-Fi support is focused more on data applications and, to date, no integration has been done to enable seamless roaming without session interruption across networks. Nokia indicated that would be left to the work of third-party software.
