UTStarcom today announced the debut of its F1000 portable Wi-Fi handset for the U.S. market.

In addition, the company also announced today a partnership with Vonage to provide the handset to Vonage customers nationwide beginning in the Spring/Summer 2005. The phone will be on display at the UTStarcom Personal Communications booth (Booth #30306) and Vonage booth (Booth #36163) at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from January 6-9, 2005.

UTStarcom's F1000 Wi-Fi handset untethers consumers from their traditional phone lines, allowing them to make calls from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hot spot -- at home, at work, around the town; in airports, coffee shops, and hotels; and even internationally. The F1000 handset, which has received U.S. regulatory approval, provides all the features and functionality of a VoIP terminal adapter together with a standard cordless telephone, but has the advantage of letting the user talk from any available Wi-Fi access point instead of just the base that they have at home.

UTStarcom will offer the F1000 through service providers and operators, similar to the way cell phones are offered. Vonage, North America's leading broadband telephony company, will be the first company to offer the new phone as part of their home broadband communications service during 2005.

The F1000 Wi-Fi handset will be available for shipping in the first quarter of 2005