Now handset maker Nokia has weighed in on the debate, presenting the counter argument that wireless LANs will complement 3G services.

In an interview with infoSync World, Paavo Aro, Nokia’ general manager of Wireless LAN Systems, said: "Our view is that public WLAN is a complementing service offering. . . . Nokia Operator Wireless LAN solution integrates PWLAN smoothly with the mobile operator’s services and infrastructure. I believe that Nokia Operator Wireless LAN will expand the total business case of both 2G and 3G operators by spearheading the broadband data access user experience, for instance, to corporate data. In Nokia’s Data to Go solution, we combine PWLAN with wide area data access, like GPRS and HSCSD, in a way which will eventually increase data volumes also in 2G and 3G and result in higher ARPUs."

Adding weight to Nokia’s argument that wireless LANs will complement the next generation of wireless services, Aro says, "Nokia expects cellular roaming to become commonplace for Public WLAN" with the commercial deployment of MobileIPv6 technology beginning in 2004.

"Nokia believes that Mobile IPv6 is the ideal technology for handovers between GSM/GPRS/3G and WLANs," Aro said, "since MobileIPv6 provides mobility independent of radio technology."

With the commercial deployment of MobileIPv6, handovers will become seamless first for data services, for example, file transfer, e-mail, and Web browsing, and then real-time services will follow, as MobileIPv6 technology improves and integration between cellular and WLAN networks increases, Aro explained.

Obviously, Nokia’s argument is good news for both mobile operators and equipment makers, but in the end it will be the consumer who will have the last word.