AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. launched a handset equipped with Unlicensed Mobile Access technology in Italy. Samsung’s SGH-P200 phone runs on the Nexperia chip from Royal Philips’ Philips Semiconductor division.
Philips’ Nexperia offering uses the company’s low-power wireless local area network system-in-package that integrates the handset’s baseband, RF transceiver and power amplifier chips and front-end components, according to the company.
UMA is a much-touted Third Generation Partnership Program, or 3GPP, protocol designed to allow seamless roaming from a cellular network to a Wi-Fi hotspot, or WLAN, whether in a public environment such as an airport or a private environment such as office or home. When an end user enters or leaves a hotspot, the technology seamlessly switches a cellular call to a VoIP call.
For operators, the technology offers the potential for a low-cost extension of their network into homes and offices and, UMA vendors say, lightens the load on the operator’s network. For consumers, the promise of better indoor coverage with faster data rates and potentially low- or no-cost coverage in home or office may be an attractive option.
In the United States, T-Mobile USA Inc. appears to be the only network operator involved in UMA trials. The service would help extend T-Mobile USA’s network at a time when the operator’s coverage areas require additional, expensive spectrum, which it is now bidding on in the Federal Communication Commission’s ongoing auction. T-Mobile USA has an extensive Wi-Fi hotspot footprint; with UMA, the carrier could extend its reach less expensively than building an equivalent cellular network.
Earlier this month, Royal Philips sold just over 80 percent of Philips Semiconductor for $4.35 billion in cash and $5 billion in debt assumption to a group of private-equity investors led by Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co., Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners NV.
