T-Mobile Working To Combine WiFi, Cellular

Late last year, T-Mobile launched an experimental UMA service in Seattle called HotSpot @Home. UMA networks allow cell phone users to place calls using existing GSM or GPRS cellular networks, and over unlicensed spectrum typically found in a home, or local-area WiFi setup. The transition is seamless, and allows customers to improve signal strength while indoors, while also saving money on wireless bills by using free WiFi connections when available.

The HotSpot @Home service (well, the beta version) costs an extra $20 a month, but that fee includes access at all T-Mobile WiFi HotSpots, meaning you’ll be able to take advantage of the network at coffee houses, hotels, airports, and anywhere else T-Mobile has set up shop.

Six months into the trial run in Seattle, T-Mobile now appears ready to roll out the service nationwide, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription req.), and HotSpot @Home could come to your neck of the woods by mid-summer. Final pricing is not yet set, but should come soon.