Nokia tests Wi-Fi calls

Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker has started its first public Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) pilot over Wireless LAN that which allows users to seamlessly roam and handover between local area networks and wide area networks using the same dual-mode device.

Fifty families in Oulu near the polar circle in northern Finland will be trying and testing the functionalities of this new technology with the help of a new Nokia 6136 mobile device over the next two months.
Mobile subscribers with handsets enabled for so-called unlicensed mobile access, or UMA, can make calls over the Internet when they are in range of an unlicensed wireless network such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. When they move out of range, the connection will automatically revert to a GSM, GPRS or UMTS mobile phone network.

Nokia said instead of constantly communicating with a base station, UMA allows the phone to also make calls through WLAN internet networks. In turn, this will also make it easier and cheaper for operators to expand their area coverage by implementing WLAN hotspots instead of costly base stations.
Residents in Oulu have had free access to Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city since last year as part of the Pan Oulu project.