Trans Con Mobile Ltd. recently announced that after two years of developing mobile Voice over Internet Protocol technology, the Israeli company’s proprietary base stations and handsets are in the final stages of testing; deployments are expected in the United States within six to 12 months.
Trans Con Mobile explained its vision, describing a network of base stations that offer cellular-like service, but use the 2.4 GHz unlicensed spectrum band rather than licensed wireless spectrum. The network also makes use of Wi-Fi hot spots, providing seamless handoffs as users meander in and out of each type of technology. When users are not within range of a Trans Con Mobile network or a Wi-Fi hot spot, the phones handoff to the area’s indigenous GSM network.
The company’s infrastructure relies on base stations equipped with a specially designed antenna and proprietary software, while its broadband-based handsets feature strong reception capabilities, resulting in signal delivery that ranges from about 1.4 to 1.6 miles in unobstructed spaces, Trans Con claims.
Trans Con Mobile said its deployment costs pale in comparison to those of traditional cellular operators who must pay for spectrum and about $350,000 for a GSM or CDMA base station and power configuration.
Avi Shani, chairman of Trans Con Mobile, said the company’s handsets are packed with software that expands talk time to six hours compared to traditional Wi-Fi phones, which have only about 30 minutes of power.
The company said it’s planning to open a U.S.-based office soon and divulged that it’s in talks with several entities interested in deploying the company’s technology in an East Coast city with a population of about 500,000 people. The company said interested parties include a wide array of industry players, including cable operators.
Initially, Trans Con Mobile said its rollouts will offer basic mobile VoIP, but the company said plans are being made to launch data and e-mail services.
Another mobile VoIP base-station and handset technology developer said to be in launch talks with potential network operators is Sarasota, Fla.-based xG Technology.
In mid-July, xG announced it was considering applications from parties interested in operating within exclusive territories, with the first systems expected to be up and running in the first quarter of 2007.
Using single-cycle modulation to deliver longer range and lower power RF communications, xG said its patented xMax base-station technology works in the 900 MHz, but is also suited to work within licensed spectrum bands. In either type of spectrum, xMax is designed to deliver three times the range of other wireless technologies with comparable power and antenna height, xG touted.
The company said its proprietary modulation method differs from conventional approaches where tens to hundreds of thousands of RF cycles are required to convey a single bit of information. With each additional cycle representing more RF power, the company says its technology reduces the amount of cycles, thus power, needed to transmit signals. The result is power-efficient RF transmission, which is important for battery-operated mobile devices.
“Our market go-to strategy includes regional Internet service providers, CLECs, local communications carriers and entrepreneurs that can operate xMax networks within exclusive territories,” noted Chris Whitely, vice president of communications at xG.
In late March, privately held xG announced that its first consumer product, a VoIP handset, would be available by the end of this year and that the device would work with low-cost xMax-enabled base stations. The handsets are expected to be dual-mode, equipped with both xMax and Wi-Fi chips, enabling users to roam into areas not covered by the xMax network of base stations.
In addition, xG said the handsets would include Ethernet jacks so that users can plug into data networks for fixed-line VoIP calling.
The company held its first public demonstration of xMax technology for media and investors last November in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In that demonstration, an xMax-equipped transmitter broadcast a 3.67 megabit-per-second signal more than 18 miles using only 35 milliwatts of RF output power.
The Federal Communications Commission has approved the equipment used in the November demonstration, and in February, xG hired the London office of Credit Suisse as a strategic adviser for the company’s technology launch.
Frank Peake, head of sales and marketing at xG, said initial offerings will target fixed-line VoIP users, untethering them from their landline connections.
