3G. Wireless Communication Solutions

MINO Wireless, CA-based mobile services company, has announced a new mobile application for making international calls from Blackberry phones. Users can call any phone worldwide at very low rates.

MINO began selling its Blackberry application on Handango (www.handango.com) in May, and in the first four weeks several thousand Blackberry users have downloaded the MINO Java application, which takes only two minutes to download and install and making low-cost international calls, without dialing access numbers and PIN numbers like with calling cards.

Users can dial direct from their contact lists after they install the MINO application and pay very low international calling rates. Blackberry users who can’t download a Java application can still use MINO by pointing their WAP browsers to getmino.com.

MINO opened its service in early 2006 and has signed up over 40,000 users in more than 50 countries in a few months. “When we looked at the early adopters of our service, we found that Blackberry was the most popular device among them,” said CEO Jing Liu.

Mobile phone is the natural device for making international calls, but if users want reasonable cost, they are not likely to use their mobile phone to make international calls. Since Blackberry users already have an Internet plan for emailing, they can get the low cost and convenience of calling from PC’s and VoIP phones on their Blackberry device with MINO.

MINO Wireless was founded in 2004 and has been developing the technology to connect mobile phones to the Voice-Over-IP infrastructure for two years.

For more: Blackberry by MINO

Not surprisingly, the equipment suppliers have made their moves. Networking major, Cisco Systems has formed a partnership with Intel, Nokia, Research In Motion (RIM), and other technology suppliers to drive adoption of ‘voice-ready wireless networks’. For example, Cisco has started the Compatible Extensions program that will test other suppliers’ products for interoperability.

To test other vendors’ products for interoperability, Cisco created a Compatible Extensions program. A program participant, such as a maker of a wireless LAN client adapter or a client device, must first develop features that support Cisco, and then submit the product to an independent lab for testing. Products that pass the tests earn a Cisco-compatible logo and can be deployed on top of Cisco’s WLAN infrastructure.

Still unclear is how much demand there is for phones that operate off a company’s wireless LAN, because most businesses have extensive internal phone networks in place and phones on just about every worker’s desk. The key to selling the technology will be evidence that it improves productivity or efficiency.

Voice over wireless means companies can extend their voice-over-IP networks and converge them with WLANs. It has the potential to change the way people stay connected at work, letting employees take their phone extensions wherever they go.

Read more Big Guns on VoIP over WLAN