The Channel Wire

June 25, 2008

T-Mobile will offer $10 monthly phone service beginning July 2, according to the telecom provider. The $10 fee is available to those customers who already have a service plan of at least $40 per month, and users must buy a $50 router from T-Mobile. (Contract deals may lower those setup costs.) The plan offers unlimited nationwide calling and participants can keep their existing home phone number.

The service is an offshoot of T-Mobile's year-old Hotspot@home, which enables customers to make calls via their home Wi-Fi network or any open or T-Mobile-branded hotspot.

However, T-Mobile@home will work with either corded or cordless phones. The phones plug into the Wi-Fi router. The Wi-Fi router from T-Mobile comes with a pair of standard telephone jacks, so users can plug in any touch-tone phone.

Published reports said standard features including caller ID, voice mail and call waiting will be available at no charge with @home. The service seems targeted at customers hesitant to give up a landline telephone connection. Many of those customers fear not being able to connect with 911 during an emergency; however, the service provider says 911 dispatchers will be able to pull up your home address as long as you register it with T-Mobile.