After reading this, I almost feel like British Telecom may be one-uping us here in the States. A bold statement to be sure, however I feel like the results speak for itself.

For much of the past year, British Telecom has been the standard bearer for fixed-mobile convergence with its innovative Fusion phone.

Outdoors, the Fusion handset - which looks and feels like a mobile in every way - connects to a mobile network and the customer is charged accordingly. At home, it communicates with a wireless hub, which is hooked up to a broadband connection.

Calls thus go over the internet and the customer is charged accordingly - or very little, in other words.

The transition between networks is seamless, with the customer able to begin a conversation outdoors, then bring it inside without interruption, or vice versa. A small icon on the phone indicates which network the customer is on but otherwise there is no noticeable change.

The Fusion has garnered technical acclaim for its inventiveness and ability to converge voice, mobile and broadband into one device. But for BT, which does not have its own mobile network, the offering was more of a defensive move against the rising popularity of cellphones…. Source: NZHerald

[tags]mobile,broadband,fusion phone,british telecom[/tags]