VON: EarthLink to test Wi-Fi phone

SAN JOSE--EarthLink today announced a beta trial of its new Wi-Fi phone, hoping to leverage both its municipal network Wi-Fi buildout and its broadband data services.

EarthLink’s Wi-Fi voice service would be available almost anywhere an 802.11b/g wireless network is operating, said David Elgas, director, EarthLink Wi-Fi Phone. The phone, manufactured by Accton Technology, a Taiwanese firm, will be beta tested in Anaheim, Calif., where EarthLink operates a muni Wi-Fi network, with the expectation of a national rollout as soon as this summer.

“We’re ready,” Elgas said. “We are looking for customer feedback in the beta trial. The firmware on the phone was developed weeks ago, but we can push downloads of updated firmware remotely, so that if we find features from the beta trial that we need, they can be added.”

The Wi-Fi phone service will essentially be like a cellular service at about half the cost--$100 for the phone and charger/access point gear, and $14.95 (500 minutes) to $24.95 (unlimited), he said. Of course, unlike cellular phones, the Wi-Fi service would operate only where a Wi-Fi network is available. .

“We know it is not going to be for everybody,” he said. “But for business travelers, students and some other groups, it provides high-quality, low-cost phone calls.”

Within the home, the phone operates on standard wireless LAN routers, on broadband networks. Outside the home, it will work on open Wi-Fi hotspots, on muni Wi-Fi networks, which are proliferating, and, once Web browser authentication is added, at places like Starbucks.

For international travelers, the phone represents a way to avoid costly roaming charges for cell phones.