Internet telephony company Skype and wireless broadband operator Broadreach will offer free telephone calls over the Web from laptops and handheld computers at 350 locations in Britain, including major train stations. Via [today.reuters.co.uk]

The Senate this week activated an in-house cellular network that lets government employees place and receive calls from the bowels of the legislative body’s various buildings. They can even check their BlackBerry devices. Via [gcn.com]

Intel has unveiled its first proposals for 802.11s, a new mesh wireless networking standard. Via [news.zdnet.co.uk]

Wireless networks are inherently insecure, but the more layers of security they have, the less likely they are to be attacked, said Mischel Kwon, wireless security officer for the Justice Department's Management Division. Via [usatoday.com]

It's a nifty sounding word—ZigBee—but most of the excitement so far here has been around protocol stacks, control modules, and interconnections. Necessary stuff, but deadly dull unless you're building the devices yourself. But based on my walk through the ZigBee Alliance's Open House and Member Meeting at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco...

Atmel Corp. and Ember Corp. today announced a partnership on the ZigBee wireless platform. Via [reed-electronics.com]

AutoCell Laboratories Inc. has introduced an integrated RF product suite and software development kit the company said speeds time-to-market and lowers costs for network equipment vendors implementing Wi-Fi switches. Via [eet.com]

Vendors looking to make Wi-Fi products running under Linux don't have to fully develop all the wireless underpinnings for that OS. Devicescape (formerly Instant802) has it ready to sell. Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

Air travelers generally are finding it easier to check e-mail wirelessly, but big airports are adding Wi-Fi hot spots at a slower pace than are other public places. Via [usatoday.com]

There was dissension in the ranks over the forthcoming mobile variant of the WiMAX 802.16e wireless access standard at this year's 3GSM World Congress. Via [electronicsweekly.com]

Vodafone is to offer Taiwanese smart phone maker HTC's Universal palmtop 3G/Wi-Fi smart phone, along with the manufacturer's compact PDA-phone, Magician. Via [theregister.co.uk]

After a yearlong hiatus, Cisco Systems Inc. is moving ahead with plans to add Wi-Fi capabilities to its router and switch products. Via [eweek.com]

Imagine a wireless hotspot the size of Philadelphia or a rural community in the American heartland. Via [reuters.com]

AT&T has expanded its wireless Internet footprint, with the addition of WiFi hotspots around the world, bringing the total to 9,094 sites, 5,770 of them in the United States. Including wired Ethernet access, AT&T now boasts more than 10,000 sites worldwide. Via [internetweek.com]

Two camps are ready for a showdown over faster wireless LANs following Motorola's agreement on Thursday to merge its proposal for the IEEE 802.11n standard with that of the World Wide Spectrum Efficiency (WWiSE) consortium. Via [infoworld.com]