[August 24, 2004]

Dear Santa: I Want a Wireless VoIP Phone

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Broadband phone service provider, Vonage (news – alert) just struck a deal with networking products developer, NETGEAR, Inc. (news – alert - quote), to develop a suite of broadband telephony devices.  The phones will be bundled with Texas Instruments’ VoIP and WLAN chipsets and compatible with the Vonage’s voice over IP (VoIP) (define - news - alert - tutorial) service. First products coming out—a voice-enabled 802.11g wireless router followed by a wired two-port telephone adapter/router.  These wonders are said to be up for grabs by Vonage’s customers by October of this year, just enough time to make it into your holiday wish list.  

The news will surely make many Vonage customers put on their happy faces, as they will be able to unwire themselves by going Ethernet cable-free thanks to NETGEAR. The company’s phone adapters and routers will provide users with much longed-for flexibility and mobility of a wireless home network, a relief for many customers that look for wireless voice services and data networking. Vonage’s VoIP service features will remain the same, now wireless customers will keep making and receiving calls with their phone number remaining intact. 

“Like NETGEAR, Vonage is a pioneer within its industry, and the Vonage service demonstrates a unique application for our networking products,” said Patrick Lo, NETGEAR’s chairman and chief executive officer of NETGEAR.  “Vonage has been offering our traditional wired routers to their customers for more than a year.  So, we’re extremely gratified that they have now chosen NETGEAR to provide them with a solution integrating two of the fastest growing technology areas, wireless and Voice over IP, into a single device.”  

Vonage’s services are available online, and through retailers including RadioShack, Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples and Office Depot.

Vonage

www.vonage.com 

NETGEAR, Inc.

www.netgear.com