Kineto Wireless, the primary developer behind unlicensed mobile access (UMA) technology for fixed/mobile convergence services, has announced that its client software for mobile/Wi-Fi handoffs now supports UMTS.

The offering is Kineto’s first move to enable 3G handsets with UMA technology. Thus far, Kineto’s UMA efforts and those of the industry in general have been more focused convergence between Wi-Fi and 2.5G technologies like GSM/GPRS and EDGE.

"When the 3GPP standardized UMA/GAN, both 3G and 2.5G modes were supported, yet so far devices have only supported 2.5G/GSM/GPRS/EDGE," said Mark Powell, vice president and founder of Kineto Wireless, in a statement. Kineto is believed to be the first vendor whose client software supports a UMTS handoff, though many other vendors license its technology.

Service providers such as Telecom Italia, Orange/France Telecom, Telia Sonera and British Telecom already offer UMA-based services.

"In June, the UMTS Forum predicted that global 3G/UMTS subscriptions will reach 100 million during the fourth quarter of this calendar year," said Mark Rowland, partner with broadband consulting firm IBB Consulting, in a statement that was part of Kineto’s press release. "The addition of UMTS support presents a huge market opportunity for UMA.”

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