Ubiquisys indoor wireless router links 3G/GSM handsets to landlines

System can run video alongside voice calls

Startup company Ubiquisys has developed an indoor wireless router designed to improve indoor 3G/GSM coverage and transfer mobile phone calls made within homes and offices onto operator networks via broadband connections.

If adopted by the mobile operators, the ZoneGate system will be similar to BT's Fusion service but will connect up to four standard 3G/GSM handsets rather than the dual-mode Wi-Fi-enabled devices BT plans to deploy.

Ubiquisys believes the 3G/GSM-only approach is much easier for operators to deploy given the limited numbers of dual-mode 3G/WiFi handsets currently available and the shorter battery life associated with phones accommodating multiple radio chips.

Ubiquisys will charge mobile operators around $100 (£53) for each ZoneGate router, but end-users are likely to get the equipment “free” as part of a subscription service. The vendor has yet to announce any partnerships, however.

"We expect to see a lot of packages coming from the mobile operators being trialed in the second quarter of next year, perhaps where users pay $10 (£5) a month and get all their calls for free, and commercial services are likely to appear in the third to fourth quarter of 2007," said Ubiquisys chief executive Chris Gilbert.

The ZoneGate router will initially support a combined 3G bandwidth of 3.6Mbit/s, with 7.2Mbit/s to share between connected users at a later stage. Gilbert said it will support applications such as video alongside voice calls, something that current mobile phones struggle to do.