Fido UNO? try Fido LAMO

Here is a chance for a Canadian Cellular provider to redeem itself. On the surface Fido UNO seems like the perfect marriage between VOIP and GSM. Peel back a few layers and you will find loads of red tape. Cellular providers are scared spitless of wireless VOIP. How many subsidised WiFi enabled devices do you see out there? Exactly, none. Enter Fido UNO. Finally a WiFi handset that lets you use the internet to save money on calls. The possibilities seem endless, right? Wrong! There are some very strict limits to what Fido UNO can do for you. It is designed to and only to replace a landline at home or in the office.
Let's start out with what UNO can do. You can use the Nokia 6301 ($300) and the Fido UNO service ($15-$20/month) on top of a monthly plan (minimum $30/month) to make unlimited local and long distance calls over a wireless network that is 1) in your local calling area and 2) within GSM range. That's pretty much it!
Now let's talk about what Fido UNO cannot do.

• Use the UNO service outside your local calling area
• Use the UNO service outside Canada
  
• Use the Nokia 6301 to browse, stream or download from the internet using your network free of charge
  

Because UNO seemlessly transfers calls from WiFi to GSM network you need to be within GSM range in order to place an UNO call. Once you are out of service or are registered in another calling area, good-bye UNO. The name UNO is seemlying becoming more ironic. Instead of consolidating your all your personal telecom it is tying you down.

What I want out of the service/sevice:

• replace Skype phone - handheld VOIP
• replace Vonage VOIP device - true international portability
  
• replace iPOD Touch - handheld mp3/wifi browsing device, free when on a wireless network
  

If don't have a cheap way to make long distance phone calls (such as a VOIP landline such as Vonage or Primus, a calling card, prefix-dial), don't make calls from outside your local calling area, don't travel, don't want an all-in-one solution then Fido UNO is for you. It would be ideal for people who talk a lot locally or long distance who spend most of their time at home or in the office, given their office is in their local calling area.
As a Vonage customer I pay $20/month for 500 minutes of calls, includes all the features you could every want and I can take my big bulky black box any where in the world and make VOIP calls. There are some definite gaps within my personal telecom that I would definitely invest in given that they existed. For now I will hold out for an unlocked Nokia 6300i. Who knows what VOIP settings or service providers you can use with it? Maybe Skype, Gizmo or even Vonage. Fido is definitely not at my side on this one and dogs with two heads are just plain weird!