MagicJack using GSM femtocell technology for VoIP

I really like the idea, but the spectrum angle... I can see this become as about carrier friendly as homemade repeater systems.

To say I smell a huge lawsuit is an understatement.

I just hope it makes it to market so I can buy one before the wireless carriers convince a court to stop the sale of these devices.

I am not a legal/regulatory expert, but I can't see how this is legal. Arguing that control of licensed spectrum (for which service providers paid billions of dollars for) ends at the walls of a person's home is shaky ground. Courts should act swiftly to strike this down given the Pandora's box this could open for mobile SPs and any building as well as radio broadcasters and public safety/government use of spectrum.

Or worse what if the signal interferes with a single 911 call?

And what about the person that buys one of these and parks one near a repeater and completely whacks a coverage area or a site?

The only way this thing could work is if it used some ISM band spectrum which to my knowledge, no handset manufacturer makes.

not sure..at one point when i had coverage in home issues with ATT, I was told by them that coverage in the home is not guaranteed, so, I should be able to use a device that provides that guarantee. count me in..

I have being using magic jack for over a year and have work everyday , no problems at all , I think this is a great technology and service. I don't have to worry about high telephone bills. I have my computer on all the time with a high speed internet , that is all you need .

Question is not whether the existing telephony adapter MagicJack works but whether this new mobile service is legal. It sounds like it uses licensed spectrum that AT&T, Sprint, etc. lease from the public for billions of dollars.

I don't see legal issues with the device, only in the minds of the competitors. They see market share dwindling. The argument that the service ends at the wall of the home should be remain valid for the other carriers. they can't have it both ways. I have been using magicjack for over a year and I love it. It provides a level of service at an unbeatable price.

All I'm hearing in these comments are FUD tactics (Fear, Uncertainty, and doubt). I'm guessing most of the people posting about the DANGERS of this technology are trolls working for the telecom industry.

Like others, I worry about what a handful of these in a close housing tract or apartment complex will do to GSM users' signal. Just like with 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi, a high concentration of access points in an area degrades your throughput, due to high overhead and "noise" on that spectrum. Same idea here. I also agree with others that "here comes a nasty lawsuit" is an understatement. My $1 bet is that this will never see the store shelves.

You're assuming they haven't made a deal with someone who owns a bit of GSM spectrum. They'd only need a tiny sliver.

In the AP article, Dan Borislow said "the device is legal because wireless spectrum licenses don't extend into the home."

This is absolutely incorrect. The FCC regulates ALL RF devices regardless where it is located, in a house, underground, etc.

The FCC rules clearly requires two things;

1. The equipment must be "certified" by the FCC before it is sold in the U.S.

2. Only the "licensee" (i.e. the cellular company) has the permission of the FCC to install and operate such devices. An individual may install and use these PROVIDED they have the written approval of the cellular company.

The user can (and has been) fined for ignoring these Federal rules.

I hope Mr.Borislow has simply been misinformed of the FCC rules and will comply and protect his customers from fines and loss of equipment.

A good place to get information and guidance is Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (just google CTIA)

if it is true that carrier service ends at the walls of my home, maybe the airtime for the calls i make from inside my home should be free... maybe i should also get paid by the carrier if any signal from cell phones of my neighbours passes through any of my walls... we should all get rf analyzers and start suing operators... may make a ton of money..

what crap... service ends at the wall...really funny...

"You're assuming they haven't made a deal with someone who owns a bit of GSM spectrum. They'd only need a tiny sliver"

A mobile SP would not make a deal that'd eliminate revenues for them.

philnvon said "service ends at the wall of the home should be remain valid for the other carriers"

Huh? That is nonsense. Before MagicJack, did you not want your cell phone to work in your home? Radio frequencies are supposed to conform to this? SHould they not work at the airport, cafe, in your car or any other structure?

Pay your service provider. They spent many tens of billions to deploy the gear and acquire spectrum licenses to deliver the services. They are not perfect. But you have service. In your home. If not, get a real femtocell offered by your service provider.

Further, YMax can't control a user from using this only indoors. What if they are in their yard and the MagicJack is on a laptop connected via WiFi to the home router? Or a WiMAX connected laptop on a train or some other public place. Did YMax not do any research?

even if they did make a deal with some one who has spectrum, that someone would need that license every where that laptop with wifi could go... seems a bit difficult...

I'm amazed that MagicJack hasn't hired an FCC attorney to ensure the device is legal. The only way I see this device being legal is if it transmits at such a low power that it is exempt from FCC licensing rules.

I think a bunch of magic jack insiders are posting.

First, there is no special technology on the magic jack, it's just VOIP, but the pricing is really, really good.

Second, IF magic jack could get some spectrum leased, they could conceivably have a good thing going. But with EVERY wireless carrier using every slice of spectrum in it's portfolio, and begging the FCC for more every day... I think alexander gram bell would laugh in his grave!!

Third, base station FCC certification and 911 inter-interoperability?

Fourth, how would the phone find the BCCH of the YMax box if the BCCH system ids aren't in the scan list of the handset? Oh, it won't.

Fifth, what about the SIM card? Do you have to put a new sim in the handset (providing we've even got to this point?) Because I can tell you, the wireless companies that you've just stole spectrum from will not give you network access to the HLR for inter-carrier exchanges!

Sixth, at this point I'm thinking a cordless phone would be better plugged into the good ole fashioned magic jack.

WWBMD?

(What Would Billy Mays Do)

if At&t buy/acquire MagicJack this could be a solution, at least At&t will have a better service

Just what the wireless world needs another mis-informed YMax CEO like Dan Borislow....

If AT&T buys it, it will be to close it down!!

i cannot see the use of it if it is only limited in door... i might just use the first gen magicjack

Even if you had a "tiny sliver" of spectrum, you would need a license in every market that the device was sold or used in.

I have double wrapped my entire house in aluminum foil in order to block signals from AT&T from passing through and reaching my neighbors' houses. I will not remove it until AT&T sends me a monthly check for every call passing through my home. AT&T YOU ARE ON NOTICE!

It's highly doubtful that this product will ever get to market let alone in 4 months.

OMG another device to cause harmful interference.
If this perhaps is supposed to be a device operating under part 15, it will never work with the suggested range.
First off, any device displayed at the CES show that is not certified MUST have a label indicating so. See FCC Rule 2.803 http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/octqtr/pdf/47cfr2.803.pdf and I bet it did not.
I really do not see this making on the shelf as well. This will never make certification, and if it did, how in the world will E911 ever work? Just think, even if you register the Majic jack with an address to comply with E911, and then your neighbor somehow gets on that unit and make a 911 call, guess where the call will get dispatched to?
This is really a bad idea and a real mess in my opinion.

A bad idea, huh? Then an unregulated internet is a bad idea as well. Sounds like something that would benefit the average joe who is struggling to find a job and pay the bills lately. Hmm, better strike this down.

unregulated internet? ok, what else can you complain about that has no bearing on this at all? maybe global warming?

If you want to argue that the average joe who is struggling to find a job needs a "good deal" then I have 2 thoughts. First, get a magic jack, it's CHEAPER than the cell phone version. And if your so hard up for money, then that $20.00 a month internet can go out the window too... oh wait, then how would you use magic jack?

If the magic jack was a "threat" to any company, then they would just buy it out, and either destroy it, or integrate it. However, the licensed spectrum that the magic jack says is legal to use is actually, quite legally, not theirs.

The FCC will in fact shut this product down, and I'm quite sure every wireless carrier would sue Ymax Corp into the ground.

Besides, it would be WAY smarter to use a cordless phone with your magic jack than with a cell phone that will only cause problems.

And, from someone who does work for a wireless carrier, we have and enforce (vigorously) our right to halt interfering transmissions in our licensed spectrum.

Its *very likely* that this device just transmits at a low enough power level that it does not need to be licensed. Microwave RF energy is pretty efficient that way.

Interference?! That's just a bunch of FUD, if you put one of these up near a cell phone tower it would be like a whisper at a rock concert.

I'm pretty sure that all the posts here trying to scare you off or tell you how this company will be sued to the ground are just a bunch of FUD from employees, shills, or CxOs of the wireless industry.

And furthermore e911?! Whatever!

To the idiot.. I mean shill .. that said "if your neighbor somehow got connected" well guess what, you'd have to give them the *code* to enter into the cell phone for that to happen. And the device is limited to a 3000sq ft area, and that is being optimistic.

Hey cnonymous,

You obviously have no concept or clue as to how wireless networks work, or the laws that govern them.

There is no conspiracy, just a bunch of industry people telling it the way it is, except the magic jack staffers who are attempting to wage a war of mis-information.

I'll save you the read time and ask you one simple question: What does the mobile handset do when the RSSI of the handset drops very low?

The answer is one of MANY reasons why this product will not be FCC approved.

FCC will slap this down, hard. Operating an unlicensed device on licensed spectrum is greatly frowned upon.

Besides, what's wrong with a POTS cordless phone connected to the standard magicjack or [insert other VOIP provider]?

If your answer is: "it's so much easier just to carry my cell phone", then get a wifi enabled cell phone that automatically uses wifi when in range. That way your VOIP calls are operating on unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum instead of an ugly "set up my own GSM cell hack job".

I believe there is a need for a devise that provides in home or private residences these capabilities. There seems to be enough of a demand for this service and in a free market an innovator should be able to bring to market a product that the consumer is asking for

One thing I have noticed about the bulk of the comments is they tend to gloss over the coverage area. They see 3000 square feet and make an assumption this means the entire house. Simple math shows an effective radius of operation at 30.9 feet from the device. The area of a circle is still pi*r^2.

Anybody here understand RF? You can easily operate a one-room GSM femtocell at power levels ( < 100mW) low enough to not violate FCC regulations. Also, a phone looks for the networks according to its SIM card. So unless you specifically instruct the phone to use this local network, you should be fine.

Nevertheless, this won't stop carriers from crying about and maybe fooling a judge or two, who probably won't understand technology, from to agree with them. The tech industry has become more about spinning the legal system to squeeze competition.

A thought about this 3 years ago when I tested nanoBTS GSM basestation. How to connect nanoBTS as a VoIP client without BSC and MSC? And create my own privat GSM network... Now this solution is reality.

Hello, is this device will work in country where ISP blocked VOIP Calls???

Pls reply.....