Mobile phone users rejoice -- the future of wireless communication is here and it could (potentially) be cheap. According to various reports, T-Mobile is set to test a new service that allows a mobile
phone to seamlessly switch between mobile wireless signals transmitted from cell towers to Wi-Fi networks, thereby saving cell phone minutes. Wi-Fi networks would also lighten the load placed on cell
networks for data storage and transmission, meaning increased bandwidth for media streaming and Web surfing on phones.
However, the test service costs $20 a month in addition to what
users pay for their regular service plan fees to use the service. Each additional line costs $5. In the end, that price falls in line with other VoIP services, which deliver phone calls to
landlines.
Regardless of whether this is a deal (right now it doesn't seem to be), technology allowing mobile phones to switch between cell networks and Wi-Fi will likely one day
result in carriers offering lower cost services that factor in that capability. It's somewhat expensive at the moment because it so new--T-Mobile is the first to implement the technology in the U.S.,
so its competitors will be watching the test closely.
Read the whole story at Ars Technica »