A Well-tested Infrastructure Conforming to the Uma Standard Lets Your Phone Decide

isting ones. Convergence of WiFi and cell technologies in a single handset will enable pervasive access to voice and data indoors and out with one standard,one network,and one device. Most cell-phone manufacturers, including Nokia and Motorola, are introducing dual-mode handsets sporting cellular and WiFi interfaces. An April 2004 report from onworld.com forecasts 400 million WiFi-enabled handsets will ship in 2009.The prevalent standard for converged voice-data communications is UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access). UMA extends GSM/GPRS services to WiFi and other indoor wireless networks. It involves tunneling GSM/GPRS protocols through broadband IP networks, including unlicensed radio networks such as WiFi. Several cellphone manufacturers and service providers developed the UMA specification (www.umatechnology.org). A device complying with UMA will select the best available network—cell or WiFi—automatically, typically choosing WiFi indoors and cellular outdoors. > > > s the adage goes: “The good thing about standards is that there are so many of them.” Does the world need yet another one?