T-Mobile USA is among the first carriers in the United States to roll out dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular service with the launch late last month of its HotSpot @Home service—available initially only to customers in Seattle—which allows subscribers to make unlimited calls on their cellular phones via a Wi-Fi network. Other carriers are expected to follow suit.
In the meantime, solution providers today can roll out enterprise WLAN networks that are robust enough to handle latency-sensitive voice traffic, positioning themselves and their customers to take advantage of FMC when it's fully available.
Aruba this week is unveiling several new features for its WLAN platform that aim to improve the performance of voice-over-WLAN deployments, said Keerti Melkote, vice president of product management and marketing at Aruba, Sunnyvale, Calif. The upgrades come as part of Aruba's five-phase architectural road map to bring FMC to enterprise customers, also unveiled this week.
"We're not just recreating the cordless phone experience," Melkote said. "The key benefits customers are looking for are data mobility, where you can take IP-PBX services with you, and the ability to have a single number and a single device."
Solution providers will be able to use Aruba's new features, including expanded quality of service, increased call capacity, faster hand-off and extended device battery life, to build networks ready to carry IP voice traffic today and support FMC in the future, he said.
"It's been a long time since I've seen such an opportunity for the channel. It should be on their radar for 2007," Melkote said.
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As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
