Orange offers Unique phone service for VoIP and mobile calling from one handset

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=4880

25 September 2006 - Orange has launched its first converged service, called
the Unique phone, which is a single handset that operates both on WLAN in
the home, and the regular mobile network outside of the home.

Initially offered in the UK and select European countries, the plan means
that phone calls made within the home to other Orange mobiles and landlines
will be free, as they will operate on VoIP. It also means a simplification
in dealing with phone service, as the plan offers one phone, one number, one
address book, and one bill from Orange.

In order to use the service, customers must get an Orange Livebox so that
the mobile handset can connected using Wi-Fi. Calls started at home using
VoIP will continue to be free even if you leave the house and the call
switches to the regular mobile network. A little symbol on the display will
indicate which system is being used at any time.

Every home can have six Unique phones, with three people allowed to use the
Internet or call at the same time. All calls will be found on one bill.

The Motorola A910, the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung P200 are the only handsets
that can be used with the service at the moment, but more will launch in
2007. The two phone plans that are being offered are the Canary 50 and the
Panther 65, which cost £50 and £65 respectively, and yield 600 and 1200
minutes a month respectively. Broadband connection is free.

To preregister go to http://www.orange.co.uk/uniquephone

Other mobile phones currently exist to allow mobile VoIP calls. The
best I have discovered so far is the Nokia E70, I believe that all of
the other E series mobiles also have VoIP capability too. These E
series phone use SIP so you can use any VoIP service.

They connect to the internet via WLAN, but if required you can also
make VoIP calls using 3G, if you have an unlimited data plan!


Some cities have free access points covering them too, so its easy to
make calls away from home or the office 100% free!!

Ross
----------------------------------------
Ross Beer
VoiceHost Ltd
www.VoiceHost.co.uk

Mark wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:15:44 +0100, "¬Stephen Hammond"
> <Stephen7372@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=4880
> >
> > 25 September 2006 - Orange has launched its first converged service, called
> >the Unique phone, which is a single handset that operates both on WLAN in
> >the home, and the regular mobile network outside of the home.
> >
> >Initially offered in the UK and select European countries, the plan means
> >that phone calls made within the home to other Orange mobiles and landlines
> >will be free, as they will operate on VoIP. It also means a simplification
> >in dealing with phone service, as the plan offers one phone, one number,one
> >address book, and one bill from Orange.
> >
> >In order to use the service, customers must get an Orange Livebox so that
> >the mobile handset can connected using Wi-Fi. Calls started at home using
> >VoIP will continue to be free even if you leave the house and the call
> >switches to the regular mobile network. A little symbol on the display will
> >indicate which system is being used at any time.
> >
> >Every home can have six Unique phones, with three people allowed to use the
> >Internet or call at the same time. All calls will be found on one bill.
> >
> >The Motorola A910, the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung P200 are the only handsets
> >that can be used with the service at the moment, but more will launch in
> >2007. The two phone plans that are being offered are the Canary 50 and the
> >Panther 65, which cost £50 and £65 respectively, and yield 600 and 1200
> >minutes a month respectively. Broadband connection is free.
> >
> >To preregister go to http://www.orange.co.uk/uniquephone
> >
>
> But it's UMA based, not SIP. So its really 'mobile over broadband'
> rather than VoIP - whatever the blurb says.
>
> It's basically the Orange equivalent of BT Fusion, except the home
> access is WiFi and not Bluetooth.
>
> Will it cope with hotspot registrations? I doubt it.

ross.beer@voicehost.co.uk wrote:

> Some cities have free access points covering them too, so its easy to
> make calls away from home or the office 100% free!!

Can you name three cities in the UK which have free access points
covering them?

Mark wrote:
> But it's UMA based, not SIP. So its really 'mobile over broadband'
> rather than VoIP - whatever the blurb says.

Surely "mobile over broadband" is a type of VoIP?

Norwich is the first in the UK to offer open access to the internet,
the service is total free.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5297884.stm

The service is going to be extended to other surrounding areas too.

I think that there will be more and more in the future. I'm sure that
other cities will add them too!

---------------------
Ross Beer
www.voicehost.co.uk


Colin Forrester wrote:
> ross.beer@voicehost.co.uk wrote:
>
> > Some cities have free access points covering them too, so its easy to
> > make calls away from home or the office 100% free!!
>
> Can you name three cities in the UK which have free access points
> covering them?

To be honest its a good start, hopefully it will expand. It's supposed
to be extending to other councils in the area. You don't often get
something for nothing these days, I just hope other cities etc follow
the plan too! Would be great if there was coverage everywhere, I guess
we will have to watch this space.

The speed limit doesn't seam to affect the VoIP quality, that seams to
be nice and clear!

Ross

------------------------------
Ross Beer
www.voicehost.co.uk


Mark wrote:
> On 26 Sep 2006 02:38:16 -0700, "voip_ross" <ross.beer@voicehost.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
> >Norwich is the first in the UK to offer open access to the internet,
> >the service is total free.
> >
> >See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5297884.stm
> >
> >The service is going to be extended to other surrounding areas too.
> >
> >I think that there will be more and more in the future. I'm sure that
> >other cities will add them too!
>
> Ah, but look at the service coverage in the City (pretty patchy, TBH)
> and the T&Cs - slugged to a max of 256k (IIRC) for J Public so as not
> to compete with commercial offerings.
>
> http://www.norfolkopenlink.com/cover...l_coverage.htm
>
> I wonder what practical indoor signal is like where there is some
> service coverage.

> I think that there will be more and more in the future. I'm sure that
> other cities will add them too!

Parts of Bristol have Streetnet - but you have to connect via a browser and
answer
lots of questions first. Don't think you could just wander in to one of the
many hotspots and start making calls