T-Mobile rolled out today its @Home service in Seattle, reports PhoneScoop. @Home is T-Mobile’s brand name for Universal Mobile Access (UMA) which allows a cell phone to make calls over a Wi-Fi hotspot in addition to the cellular network.

In order to use @Home, customers need a compatible phone with Wi-Fi. T-Mobile is selling the Nokia 6136 and Samsung T709 for $50 each with a 2 year contract, reports the NY Times.

The @Home service then costs an additional $20 per month for unlimited calling from a home access point as well as any T-Mobile hotspot. T-Mobile is also giving away a Wi-Fi access point for customers who do not have one already. The service is expect to launch in additional markets but has not announced any plans as of yet.

In related T-Mobile news, the company will participate in a trial of Hiwire’s Mobile TV service beginning next month. Hiwire is testing a DVB-H network in the 700 MHz band in Las Vegas. T-Mobile has been named as a test partner for this service, however they have not signed on to launch with Hiwire.

Hiwire owns two 700 MHz channels in the UHF TV band around the country. It’s similar to Qualcomm’s single MediaFLO which uses a proprietary system. Hiwire is planning to use the DVB-H standard to two 700 MHz channels. The recent FCC decision to allow MediaFLO to begin launching its service before the big analog TV switchover in 2009 should also allow Hiwire to do the same.

Mobile broadcasting is expected to become the model of choice for cellular operators in the United States because it off-loads the data-intensive content on another freqency and it can multicast to millions of users, simultaneously rather than unicasting one at a time. By the end of 2007 approximately four million subscribers are expected to receive entertainment and information on their wireless handsets via DVB-H and MediaFLO.

A recent ABI Research study, “Broadcast and Unicast Mobile TV Services” forecasts that in 2011, mobile TV services will have some 514 million subscribers worldwide. Of that total, the research indicates, 460 million will be subscribers to broadcast services. Broadcast services will have 1.5 million subscribers by the end of 2006. In the US market, most subscribers will be enabled by the wireless carriers’ broadcast network partners, including MediaFLO (a subsidiary of Qualcomm), Aloha’s Hiwire network, and Crown Castle’s Modeo service.

Meanwhile Sprint Nextel and MVNO Embarq are debuting the commercial availability of its Smart Connect service, which offers seamless transitions between the cellular network and a landline or Wi-Fi network. Smart Connect is aimed solely at business customers, says RCR Wireless.

The service comes in two iterations. Basic Smart Connect service can be used on any voice phone from any wireless provider as long as the customer has Embarq service for the business landline. A customer speaking on his cell phone outside and entering his office can push a button on the office phone and have the call seamlessly transferred to the office phone. The call can also be transferred back to the wireless phone by pressing a button on the handset.

A more expensive option, Smart Connect Plus, has the ability to transfer the call seamlessly between the cellular network and a business’ Wi-Fi network. The Smart Connect Plus service is currently available only on Embarq’s most expensive device, the UT Starcom Pocket PC 6700 smart phone, which retails for $570. Other devices will eventually be added, and Embarq expects to have the service available in most of its major markets by the middle of next year.

Prices for Smart Connect range from $15 to $20 per month, while Smart Connect Plus will cost customers either $20 to $25 a month.

Posted by Sam Churchill on Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 at 1:31 am.