Nokia UMA - GSM / WLAN Phone in Trial
Nokia is pushing to popularize UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) technology in the mass market. The global mobile phone giant is putting the resourcesis to trial its first voice-over-wireless LAN system and service in Finland which will allow mobile users to make use of lower cost voice calls over the Internet.
The system, called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), is being tested by 50 households in the city of Oulu. They are using the Nokia 6136 handset which is among the first mobile phones to support the handover of voice and data calls between a WLAN and the local GSM network.
The users will be able to roam and handover between local area networks and wide area networks using the same dual-mode handset.
The handset does not need to continuously communicate with a GSM basestation, but will also make calls through WLAN Internet networks. Which opens up the use of lower cost voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) services.
UMA technology makes it possible for users to seamlessly roam and handover between local area networks and wide area networks using the same dual-mode device. Instead of constantly communicating with a base station, UMA allows the phone to also make calls through WLAN internet networks. In turn, this will also make it easier and cheaper for operators to expand their area coverage by implementing WLAN hotspots instead of costly base stations.
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