With Femtocells, FMC Gets Real

Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
|
Author: pradhana
|
Filed under: Fixed-Mobile Convergence

By Dan O'Shea Comment Forward

The concept of fixed-mobile convergence has been around for so long, and has been applied to so many different technology innovations and business strategies, that the telecom industry may have to forgive the pause of surprise among many of us as it becomes clear what FMC really is.

The FMC plans of U.S. wireless carriers are just now coming to fruition, and for many U.S. customers who look to experience FMC this year, that experience will be shaped by residential service/device platforms like Verizon's Hub, Sprint's Airave, T-Mobile USA's @Home, and whatever AT&T decides to call its service once its femtocell trials are done.

As a keynote speaker at the show, Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg is sure to touch on his company's Hub launch--who knows, maybe he will even offer up some preliminary numbers on the success of this two-month-old femtocell-based FMC service. T-Mobile President and CEO Robert Dotson also will be keynoting.

Another show attraction on the convergence theme is the April 1 conference track called "The Blueprint of Convergence," featuring the plenary session "The Converged Network--How We Get There from Here."

Meanwhile, the Wireless 2009 show floor is sure to offer plenty of announcements connecting with the hot topic of fixed mobile convergence. AirWalk Communications, Cisco Systems, Huawei Technologies, Ubquisys, Continuous Computing, Genband, Tatara Systems and Airvana are just some of the femtocell exhibitors on hand.

AirWalk will be showing its new enterprise femtocell, EdgePoint Pro, which has features that include support for multiple users, management of multiple femtocells and links to enterprise IP PBXs. Ubiquisys, AirWalk and Tatara all will be involved in Acme Packet's technology demonstration of its Net-Net Security Gateway and Net-Net Session Director supporting an IMS/NGN environment. Continuous Computing will demonstrate the concept of adaptive traffic shaping for femtocells to improve the quality of femtocell coverage. Meanwhile, the Wi-Fi Alliance and ABI Research will announce new research related to FMC's outlook through 2014.

There no doubt will be several more FMC-related announcements and demonstrations at Wireless 2009, but the difference between this year's version of FMC and what we have seen in previous years is that this year's version is ready for prime time. [FierceWireless]

How Will Mobility Affect Voice-data-video Convergence During the Next Five Years?

Posted: Sunday, August 31, 2008
|
Author: pradhana
|
Filed under: Fixed-Mobile Convergence

Background: With the availability of IP PBX architectures, voice is evolving into more of an application. However, many voice features remain locked behind proprietary platforms. As enterprise mobility emerges with the adoption of standard interfaces, it will join with other applications through technologies such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and service-oriented architectures (SOAs), as well as architectures, such as IP Multimedia System. In many cases, much of the added value in the IP PBX proposition will be displaced. Video has emerged on the high end, but has struggled to become a widely used endpoint technology.

Impact: The demand for mobility in the office encourages greater use of mobile handsets, which will increasingly become business application interfaces that will render planned integration at the IP telephony level redundant. Companies need to re-examine their planned hardware investments for voice, data and video convergence. Overall, mobility extends or refines business applications, adding the attribute of "anywhere, anytime operation." Mobility also closes the loop, making automated processes more continuous, because they no longer pause when mobility enters the equation.

Summary of Planned Research: Coverage will include extensive monitoring of the changing role of the PBX and the potential displacement of wired devices with wireless, emerging unified communications (UC) products, new vendors bringing convergence between the mobile operator voice systems of the cellular world and the PBX world, and new networking technologies, such as Wi-Fi. Call centers and organizational units that often benefit from voice decisions will receive extensive coverage. Microsoft's entry into the voice market will receive coverage as a new approach, but Microsoft has little voice experience. We will also cover trends in videoconferencing. [Gartner]

103 Million Consumer Fixed-Mobile Convergence Access Points In Service by 2013

Posted: Friday, August 22, 2008
|
Author: pradhana
|
Filed under: Fixed-Mobile Convergence

The fixed-mobile convergence market (FMC) is on the brink of very interesting times, according to analysts at ABI Research. UMA-based Wi-Fi dual-mode solutions have seen some significant penetration in both Europe and North America thanks to successful market introductions by T-Mobile in the US (T-Mobile @Home) and Orange (unik) in France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The first real competitive solution that could rival Wi-Fi-based products has now appeared, in the form of Sprint’s nationwide (US) femtocell-based AIRAVE solution. The questions remain: is there room for both types of convergence in the market; and which solution is best placed to succeed?

ABI Research forecasts a total of 103 million access points of both types to be in service by 2013. Vice president and research director Stuart Carlaw says, “We expect cellular-based femtocells to have taken over the baton from UMA- and SiP-based Wi-Fi solutions by 2013, seizing 62% of the market.”

He goes on to add that, “Although UMA-based Wi-Fi solutions have seen early gains in greenfield markets, these solutions have not proliferated much outside their current carrier footprints. This can be attributed partly to the carriers’ desire to assess femtocell developments, but also to lingering concerns regarding the concept of Wi-Fi based fixed-mobile convergence.” [ABI Research]