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Agere, Proxim, Ericsson will build cell/Wi-Fi convergence for service providers: The three companies will work together to create a system that can handle cell data to 802.11 family roaming using existing authentication systems. A user would employ a single SIM module, used for GSM/GPRS networks as a user ID card, essentially, to roam among different networks.
Proxim will provide the platform, their Orinoco AP-2000 dual-slot access point, and initially support just 802.11b, although a and g will follow, according to a press release from Proxim. Ericsson will offer IETF/3GPP-compliant authentication servers. Agere will handle the SIM and Wi-Fi "technology" as abstractly ambiguous as that is.
Nokia announced a Wi-Fi card with a SIM insert slot last summer, and tested it for authentication and billing with Sonera in Finland. However, this October 2001 press release is the last instance of publicity I can find, and the company's prediction that a number of carriers would launch WLAN networks in the first half of 2002 turned out flat.