Dual-mode handset bonanza ahead

Annual global sales of 'dual-mode' mobile phones, which can connect to conventional GSM/CDMA mobile services or Wi-Fi networks, are likely to exceed 100 million during the final year of this decade, newly published research has predicted.

ABI Research said that some of the giants of global telecoms, notably BT and Korea Telecom, plan to offer dual-mode services by the end of 2005.

The analyst firm noted that such dual-mode handsets have been virtually unknown to consumers until now, and have not penetrated the enterprise space to any degree.

But according to senior analyst Philip Solis, this is set to change as the support from operators such as BT starts "a very large ball rolling".

"The advantages of dual-mode handsets and services, when they arrive, can be summed up in two words: seamless and economical," he said.

Users will be able to start a call at home connected to a residential Wi-Fi network and then to a broadband VoIP service, continue it in a car over the cellular provider's network, and finish it at work where the phone switches to the office 802.11 Lan and VoIP service.

The handset would sense the available signals and switch automatically from one network mode to another, keeping users connected and saving them money, according to the research.