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Currently, placing calls over Wi-Fi deducts from a customer’s in-plan minutes. Effective5/13, a new feature will launch that will allow customers with capable phones the ability to place calls over Wi-Fi without deducting from in-plan minutes! This is not only a great value, being FREE, but can help customers who experience coverage issues in areas that Wi-Fi is available.

This new feature is available to all Even More and Even More Plus Postpaid rate plans for customers with Wi-Fi Calling capable handsets.

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But the truth is that blanketing cities with Wi-Fi signals is not inherently a bad idea. Even though some projects have stalled or failed outright, there have also been several success stories. Cities such as Minneapolis, Minn.; Houston, Texas; Burbank, Calif.; and Tucson, Ariz., are moving forward and seeing early signs of success.

One of the common threads weaved through each of these deployments is that all of these cities have committed to using the Wi-Fi networks for their own purposes whether it be to provide remote access for mobile city workers, automate meter reading, control traffic congestion or enhance public safety.

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In a sense, these long-range Wi-Fi antennas would perform the same function as WiMax, a long-range wireless technology that many, including Intel, are experimenting with now. The difference is that a WiMax tower costs about $15,000 to $20,000. The long range Wi-Fi towers might only cost $700 to $800. Additionally, long range Wi-Fi could spread faster, Brewer said. The radio spectrum employed by WiMax is regulated by local telecommunications authorities. Putting up towers or offering services can require getting governmental permission.

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The pictures in Jensen's van are sent through the city wireless network to an emergency operation center, where important decisions can be made. "In my (business), you need to make some decisions really quick. That is what this allows us to do," he said. As a specialist in hazardous materials, Jensen gets called in when there is a chemical leak or a suspicious substance that might pose a danger to the public. To find out, Jensen looks at it in a microscope. Often the pictures must be examined further. Through the wireless network, they can be e-mailed to a lab in seconds.

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As the future of video gaming services comes into focus, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are all enhancing their online gaming services in a bid to offer gamers richer, more challenging interplay experiences than they can find when playing just by themselves.