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ONO, a quad-play competitive provider
in Spain offering mobile, fixed,
broadband and television services,
launches a dual-mode handset service based on UMA
technology. The new service, called `io,' offers consumers the
same rate on calls to fixed and mobile lines 24 hours a day.
Sagem launches its second UMA-
enabled dual-mode handset. The my429x
is available to subscribers of Orange's
Unik service that is based on UMA.
APRIL
Infonetics Research issues a report crediting T-Mobile
USA and Orange with heating up the fixed-mobile
convergence (FMC) infrastructure market and driving the
nearly 5-fold increase of the worldwide market, including
UMA network controllers and multi-access convergence
gateways. Infonetics forecasts this industry will grow
10-times larger between 2007 and 2011.
T-Mobile offers Research in Motion's
(RIM) UMA-enabled BlackBerry Pearl
/ 8120 nationally to Unlimited HotSpot
Calling subscribers. This announcement
comes less than one month after
T-Mobile snatched the Blackberry 8820
for its UMA subscribers.
MAY
Canadian mobile operator Fido launches
UNO®, its UMA-enabled, dual-mode handset
service. Subscribers have a choice of two
service plans and two phones.
Orange reports it has sold 900,000 dual-mode
GSM/WiFi UMA devices sold in France, as of
March 30, 2008. The company also reports it has
doubled its mobile broadband customer base.
Rogers introduces TalkSpot® dual-mode
service featuring improved coverage and
unlimited flat rate calling plans.
Agilent Technologies and Kineto collaborate on 3G and
2G UMA/GAN handset testing to bring a comprehensive
solution to market. The joint focus is on expanding
Agilent's 8960 "real world" UMA/GAN test capabilities
to provide a full-featured, non-scripting test solution
for mobile operators, handset vendors and platform
developers in the UMA/GAN market.
Tektronix Communications enhances its network
assurance monitoring system to include UMA support to
enable end-to-end monitoring of voice and data sessions
across fixed and mobile networks with a single platform.
JUNE
The 3GPP standards body agrees on the
Home NodeB (HNB) architecture for
femtocell-to-core network connectivity.
The architecture defines two new
network elements, the HNB (a.k.a. Femtocell) and the
HNB Gateway (a.k.a. Femto Gateway). Between these
elements is the new Iu-h interface.
T-Mobile announces it will take its
Talk Forever fixed-line home phone
service nationwide. Subscribers with
a minimum monthly mobile service
plan can add home phone service for
$10 a month. The company reported 45 percent of users of
the service in test markets Seattle and Dallas had switched
from other mobile operators.
Tecom gears up shipments of UMA terminal adaptors
(Ed. Note: originally mislabeled `femtocell basestations')
,
estimating demand at more than 2 million units in 2008,
growing to 6-7 million units in 2009.
With the addition of the Nokia 6301 bar phone
and the Samsung t339 flip phone, T-Mobile
now offers eight UMA dual-mode handsets,
including three smartphones, to subscribers of
its Unlimited HotSpot Calling service.
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