Wifi Revolution

Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile USA, Inc. reportedly has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance as a sponsor member.

 

Welcoming T-Mobile (News - Alert) to the global Wi-Fi certification and standards group, Wi-Fi Alliance also announced the appointment of T-Mobile’s Omar Hassan to its board of directors. Omar Hassan is currently leading T-mobile’s Wi-Fi device technology development.

 

The Wi-Fi Alliance (News - Alert) is an international non-profit industry association comprising of more than 330 member companies, which have dedicated themselves to the proliferation of Wi-Fi technology, across devices and market segments.

 

Promoting the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi technology via market building, regulatory programs, and technology development, the Wi-Fi Alliance is also encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi products and services in new as well as established markets.

 

Nine years back, the Wi-Fi Alliance launched its Wi-Fi Certified program, which is offering a widely recognized designation of interoperability and quality, thereby ensuring that Wi-Fi enabled products deliver the best user experience. The Wi-Fi Alliance has completed over 6,000 product certifications.

 

“As a sponsor member of the Wi-Fi Alliance, T-Mobile has exemplified the importance of the mobile segment and operator communities to the growth of the Wi-Fi industry,” said Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, in a press release.

 

T-Mobile now joins other sponsor members of the alliance, such as Apple, Atheros, Broadcom, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia (News - Alert), Sony Corporation and Texas Instruments.

 

Since 2007, T-Mobile has been into the development and integration of Wi-Fi voice technologies. It was the first U.S. carrier to unveil a converged Wi-Fi/mobile calling service to consumers, which was launched recently, according to T-Mobile.

 

Ray Froelich, director of product definition for T-Mobile USA, said in the press release, “We strongly believe there’s a big opportunity to align device makers, chipset vendors, carriers and their infrastructure providers to create new and innovative products and services that spark the broad adoption of Wi-Fi in the mobile space.”

T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG (News - Alert).

 

Recently, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced a new innovative specification to support direct Wi-Fi connections between devices. With this upcoming specification Wi-Fi devices will soon be able to connect easily to one another in a new kind of Wi-Fi network, thereby simplifying tasks such as print, share and display.

 

The Wi-Fi Alliance looks forward to begin certification for this new specification in mid-2010, and products that achieve the certification will be designated as Wi-Fi Certified Wi-Fi Direct.

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