Wireless carrier offers cheaper land line phone services

June 25, 2008,  8:01 am

T-Mobile Offers New Home Phone Service

By Laura M. Holson

How is this for a twist: Wireless carrier T-Mobile wants to sell consumers phone service in their homes.

The company announced Wednesday that it would introduce a Internet-based phone service called T-Mobile@Home later this month which it hopes will compete with landline and voice-over-Internet offerings from the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Vonage. The service will cost $10 a month, but customers must also have a T-Mobile cellphone plan (which typically start at $29.99 a month) and broadband Internet service (which typically costs $20 to $50 a month, depending on who the provider is).

The move is part of T-Mobile’s effort to extend its brand beyond wireless communications. Unlike AT&T or Verizon, which have roots as old-line phone companies, T-Mobile does not sell traditional phone service.

The offering also builds on the company’s innovative service began a year ago that allowed its mobile phone customers to make unlimited calls over their home wireless Internet networks.

T-Mobile@Home transmits calls from the phone handset through a $50 T-Mobile router to the Internet, where voice-over-Internet-protocol technology is used to complete the call. Customers are allowed to keep their existing home phone number. At the same time, said the chief executive, Robert Dotson, they can get the same services they get from mobile phones, like personalized ring tones.

The $10 price tag for unlimited calling is cheaper than what competitors like AT&T and Verizon, charge for wired or VOIP access. Vonage, which also sells telephone calling plans using VOIP technology, offers unlimited calling for $24.99.