Bellevue-based Sotto Wireless, founded by ex-McCaw Cellular executives, said today that it has started testing its small business phone service in the Seattle area.

Seattle is the second test market for Sotto's services; it rolled out a test in Charlotte, N.C., last month. The company replaces the need for separate landline and cellphones by allowing a cellphone to use a Wi-Fi network in an office to save on minutes and get better coverage.

In Seattle, Sonic Boon, Burgess Enterprises and Starfire Sports are testing Sotto's services.

Beginning early next year, the company plans to roll out its service aggressively to all the nation's major metro areas.

Commercial availability should take place in the first quarter, and Sotto expects to be in over a dozen markets by the end of 2007.

The company is quiet on which phones it will be offering, besides the E70 it originally launched with, and what cellphone carrier the phones it will be using, other than the non-exclusive use of SunCom in North Carolina.