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Story URL: http://networks.silicon.com/mobile/0,39024665,39169953,00.htm

BT wi-fi phones fail to light a fuse with consumers
Fusion to take backseat to RIM rival?

By David Meyer

Published: Thursday 07 February 2008

BT has reportedly abandoned, for the moment, attempts to market its dual-mode wi-fi handsets to consumers, despite the relative success of the device among business customers.

Wireless from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more…

A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee

According to an article in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, the BT Fusion phones - which route calls off the cellular network and onto DSL-based connections where available - have found just 45,000 takers in the consumer sector, despite widespread marketing.

BT does not have its own cellular network - it resells a Vodafone service - but it does have an extensive network of wi-fi hotspots across the UK. However, wi-fi is a major drain on handset batteries and high-speed 3G services have become increasingly common, both through handsets themselves and through USB modems.

Speaking to slicon.com sister site ZDNet.co.uk, a BT spokesperson denied the company had abandoned its Fusion service. "It is still being actively marketed to SMEs and large businesses, both in the UK and abroad, but we have scaled back on our [consumer] marketing," the spokesperson said.

The company is currently trialling a "next-generation style of device similar to a BlackBerry", but refused to say whether it would be targeted at the consumer or business sectors. The device will "launch in a few months' time", the spokesperson added.

Ovum analyst Mike Cansfield wrote on his firm's website that Fusion had been "a disappointment in the consumer space".

Cansfield said: "At the time of launch, we were very positive about the idea (the technology behind Fusion is very clever, particularly the seamless handover of calls from a mobile into the fixed network), but sceptical about the pricing (particularly the minutes bucket on offer) and whether BT could market this successfully."

Cansfield noted that Fusion had been far more successful in the business market, and estimated that more than 100,000 handsets had been sold in this sector. He said: "The reason it sells well is because corporate customers want to converge their fixed and mobile communications into one. Given the importance of corporates to BT… it is clearly not going to abandon [fixed-mobile convergence] as a concept."