Reuters reports today that Nokia has started its first public tests of Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), enabling Seamless hand-off between cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Fifty families in the city of Oulu in northern Finland will be testing the functionality using Nokia 6136 phones.

"UMA technology truly brings simplicity in the usage of voice over IP," says Nokia's Peter Ropke. "This pilot project is an important step forward in bringing functional UMA technology to the mass market. Both operators and consumers will be able to garner the benefits of this new technology."

It's a joint project run by Nokia, DNA/Finnet and the City of Oulu -- which announced the panOULU project last year, providing free Wi-Fi access at hotspots around the city.

Nokia's press release is here.