Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Avenue subsidiary is set to further blur the line between wireline and wireless communications when it launches its Verizon One service next year. The service will integrate cordless and cellular capabilities into a single handset with one telephone number.
Verizon Avenue said the device, which is expected to sell for $200, would use both Verizon Communications’ wired network and Verizon Wireless’ wide area network and would be rolled out state by state, exclusively to residents of selected multifamily communities where the company currently offers bundled telecommunications services. Verizon Avenue added that the service would include eight calling features, including caller identification and voice mail.
“We’re delivering cutting-edge technology that both simplifies residents’ lives and provides multifamily community management with a competitive edge,” said Andrea Custis, president and chief operating officer of Verizon Avenue.
While specific performance data was not released, Axesstel Inc., which has developed and will manufacture the handset for Verizon Avenue, said that calls placed to the device first will try to connect through the wireline network before switching to the wide area wireless network. If a customers does not answer the call from either location, the call will be forwarded to a single voice mailbox.
According to Craig Hagopian, Axesstel chief marketing officer, the device will include a 900 MHz digital cordless telephone chipset similar to traditional cordless telephones and a Qualcomm Inc. dual-band, tri-mode chipset that is compatible with 800 MHz digital and analog cellular and 1900 MHz PCS networks. In addition, Hagopian said the device will include GPS capabilities making the device E-911 compliant.
Because the device is geared toward indoor use, Hagopian said the company decided to stay away from using a 2.4 GHz cordless phone chipset that would offer inferior in-building penetration and could suffer interference from the increasing number of Wi-Fi-based wireless local area networks that also use the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum band. Verizon Avenue noted that beginning Oct. 1, it will offer its customers a new bundled telecommunication service plan that includes up to six Wi-Fi hot spots in multifamily common community areas.
Axesstel also said it expects battery life from the device to be comparable to today’s cordless telephones, and in the future it plans to introduce different features and form factors, including a color screen and a clamshell-type handset.
Verizon Avenue is expected to encounter competing devices in the near future from a number of telecommunications providers, including BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. with their Cingular Wireless L.L.C. joint venture and Sprint Corp., which have announced similar plans for combination wired/wireless offerings.
