Truphone Offers "4G" WiFi Internet Phone Solution

By Mae Kowalke

TMCnet Associate Editor

 

U.K.-based Truphone, a newcomer to the telecommunications market, is declaring itself the first “4G” network operator.

 

The company offers a software infrastructure that allows mobile phones users to place calls and send text messages with their handsets, using a WiFi (News - Alert) Internet connection.

 

“[W]hen a Truphone-enabled mobile handset is out of Wi-Fi range it reconnects to the mobile network, allowing customers to roam between the two networks,” Truphone said in a press release.

So far, the software has been tested on Nokia’s E-series handsets.

 

The company also said it is developing “mobile VoIP applications for the millions of smartphones already in circulation, ensuring mass market availability of free and low-cost mobile phone calls by the end of 2006.”

 

Truphone’s solution was built using Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP), making it compatible with offerings from more than 100 companies worldwide. The company noted that “Most consumer services including Yahoo, Microsoft (News - Alert) and Google (News - Alert) have adopted SIP, as have many large corporations.”

 

In a statement to the press, Truphone CEO James Tagg used a personal anedcdote to illustrate the potential of WiFi Internet telephony: “I recently received a near-£700 mobile phone bill for a month that included one week spent on holiday in France - 95 per cent of this was roaming charges,” he said.

 

Tagg continued: “Mobile VoIP technology, which is inherently much cheaper, would have virtually eliminated my roaming bill. Even £70 instead of £700 would have been acceptable, yet that sum is still three times the average revenue per user achieved by UK operators.”

For more information, visit Truphone’s stand (532B) at VON Europe in Stokholm, Sweden, May 15-18, 2006. Or, visit Truphone online at www.truphone.com.