Nortel and BB Mobile, a Softbank company, have achieved a second wireless industry milestone with what is believed to be the world's first seamless handoff of voice and data services between a third generation (3G) cellular network operating on the 1.7-GHz radio frequency band and a wireless local area network (LAN). The test calls, completed on a live Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) 3G cellular network and an 802.11 wireless LAN, signal a new level of freedom, access and mobility for mobile phone users.

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Without interruption and using a single device, users will now be able to roam securely between 3G wireless networks and Wi-Fi networks or wireless LANs while browsing the Internet, sending and receiving e-mails, downloading files, and performing other high-speed wireless broadband voice and data services. This seamless mobility is enabled by intelligence built into the network by Nortel.

Setting a new benchmark in convergence, this real-world field test builds on another wireless data transmission success by Nortel and BB Mobile earlier this month. The previous trial achieved Japan's first 14.4-Mbps wireless data transmission using the 1.7-GHz radio frequency band for mobile communications and Nortel's high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology to deliver speeds 30 times faster than commercially deployed networks using UMTS.