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Before operators turned to femtocells to improve coverage and indoor reception, the main option was to use Wi-Fi inside, handing off to the cellular network using the UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) technology. Although UMA, designed by Kineto Wireless and adopted as a 3GPP standard, was also proposed as a connection for femtocells, it has been heavily overshadowed by the tiny base stations and their own standard link, IuH. But T-Mobile USA, always the chief flagwaver for UMA, is not turning its back on the technology and will adopt a new Android UMA client from Kineto.

Using Wi-Fi to enhance cellular coverage and services was always appealing to TMo, because it was late to deploy 3G but has a huge network of Wi-Fi hotspots, opening the route to bundled home and public access services. But it appeared to be going cold on UMA last month, when a spokesperson told GigaOM the firm had no plans for UMA on Android.

Now it has changed course and announced it will launch UMA-based Wi-Fi calling on its Android smartphones very soon, using the Kineto Smart Wi-Fi app, unveiled recently. This does not support all Android releases and models, so the definite handsets to support the service will be the new TMo myTouch from HTC, and the Motorola Defy.

With the Android app, the UMA platform is taking a different approach to that employed on other smartphones such as Nokia E73 or BlackBerry. These have system-level integration, so the handset automatically switches to and away from the WLan network in the background. The Android version will not have this seamless switching, which could make it less user friendly and not such a major driver of traffic (TMo currently numbers 40m calls a month over Wi-Fi).

However, the Android app is less battery hungry than other UMA implementations as chip level integration often caused phones to switch between WLans and cellular networks excessively.

TMo, in a statement to GigaOM, said: "Wi-Fi Calling for Android is built upon the same technology as UMA, but is a different implementation from our past offerings. While T-Mobile's current Wi-Fi Calling solution which operates on BlackBerry smartphones, for instance, seamlessly hands off calls from T-Mobile's network to Wi-Fi networks, Wi-Fi Calling for Android does not. A preinstalled application from T-Mobile will allow customers to make and receive voice calls and SMS over an accessible Wi-Fi connection. This provides customers with better indoor coverage and in some cases may provide the ability to make voice calls in locations where they weren't able to do so previously."

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