T-Mobile USA is announcing today that its @Home voice service will be available nationwide starting July 2, reports C/Net. Here’s a mini review in the Seattle Times.
T-Mobile has been testing their Internet telephony service since February in Dallas and Seattle. It is meant to replace traditional home phones, and will be offered to any T-Mobile cell phone customer.
Unfortunately, the @Home service also requires DSL or cable modem service. When you’re on the go, you use your regular cellular minutes.
Subscribers will be able to connect any regular home telephone to a T-Mobile router that will send calls over the Internet much the same way as services like Vonage operate. The service costs $10 a month plus taxes and fees for unlimited domestic local and long-distance calls.
Current Wi-Fi-enabled T-Mobile Dash or T-Mobile Wing will not work with the @Home service. This is because the Hotspot @Home service will only work with UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) phones that can transition smoothly between GSM and WiFi networks.
Only T-Mobile wireless customers who subscribe to at least a $39.99 individual calling plan or families subscribing to at least the $49.99 monthly T-Mobile calling plan can get the service. And they are required to use a special T-Mobile router, which also provides Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the home. The router costs $149.99, but you can get it for $49.99 if you agree to a two-year contract.
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