Avaya, Proxim, and Motorola to integrate cellular with WiFi

Motorola, Avaya, and Proxim announced Tuesday a collaboration to create and deploy converged cellular, wireless local area network and Internet protocol telephony.

Aimed at saving costs and enhancing productivity, the initial target for the product are businesses of all sizes, said Bo Pyskir, senior director business development of Motorola.

At a press conference, officials from the three companies said they are addressing issues such as quality of service, security and enhancing phone battery-life while using power zapping technologies as well as other technical hurdles. They refused to comment about specifics, however.

The plan calls for the companies to take advantage of the spread of communication hubs — or hot spots — based on the 802.11 standard, known as Wi-Fi. The goal of the three companies is to offer seamless transitions between cell phone networks and wireless local area networks using voice over IP.

All the products in the system will be standards-based, the officials said. Some features that are not based on standards may be added in products called Standards Plus. Phone prices are expected to equal that of mid- to upper-tier cellular phones. The partners expect that they will eventually extend the product beyond businesses into the home and perhaps find public safety applications as well.

Trials are expected later this year.