Business Week’s Olga Kharif wrote yesterday about several cellcos that are prepping at-home services. For a flat-monthly rate, this new functionality will allow users to synch their mobiles with their landlines in order to send and receive calls without depleting cellular minutes.
T-Mobile is currently testing a service in Oregon that utilizes a wireless router. As this image from the Samsung T709 indicates, the T-Mobile router presumably allows users to route calls through Wi-Fi. AT&T on the other hand is preparing two options. One will direct calls through Internet telephony, while the other will route calls to their landline, which seems to defeat the point of the service. If users are required to maintain a landline in order to receive calls on it, it wouldn’t be any more cost effective than just eating wireless minutes.
T-Mobile’s Trial Balloon [Business Week]
Image [Engadget]