Unik mobile phone with Wi-fi on the way
Orange plans to offer mobile phones that can also make VoIP calls over a home Wi-Fi router. Orange had first announced its plans for the service naming it as Unik (for “unique”) on May 31. With this announcement Orange joins a growing number of European network operators offering similar services.
The new service will be available to Orange customers who subscribe to both its GSM mobile phone network and its DSL broadband Internet access service. Using a special mobile phone costing from €99 ($125), they will be able to make unlimited calls from home, connecting via Wi-Fi to their Livebox DSL home router. When they are outdoors, calls will be carried over Orange’s GSM network at the usual rates.
The Livebox can carry up to three simultaneous Wi-Fi calls, Orange said. Although Orange also offers GSM and DSL services in the U.K, it had said earlier that Unik would only be available in France.
Similar services combining GSM and Wi-Fi are available elsewhere in Europe, including BT Group’s Fusion, launched in the U.K. last year, Deutsche Telekom’s T-One, which opened in Germany in August, and TeliaSonera’s service Home Free, now available in Denmark.