Fixed-Line and Wireless Convergence

Why Fixed Mobile Convergence?

With fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), users benefit from the features and capabilities associated with both fixed-line and wireless networks. Service providers in this market are racing to deliver products that address ever-increasing employee mobility, growth in IP adoption, availability of WiFi networks, poor indoor mobile phone coverage, and — most important — enterprises' need for tools that help them improve employee efficiency, manage network complexity, and reduce costs.

The rapid growth of WLAN deployments in enterprises, hotspots and homes; the improving ability of WLAN access to provide high-quality voice service; and the introduction of dualmode handsets that can support both cellular (GSM, UMTS or CDMA) and WLAN radio are creating new market opportunities for service providers to deliver a comprehensive service that converges mobile and fixed-line infrastructures, beginning with voice.

Value
Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) promises a superior user experience delivered cost-efficiently and with unprecedented convenience. FMC offers service providers the potential for first-mover advantages to attract customers and gain momentum. It extends an opportunity for service providers to enter new markets and to bridge the wireless/wireline divide. But this isn’t just about voice. The industry sees video and multimedia as the means to capture customers and differentiate from client-centric solutions (e.g., Skype over WLAN) — in particular to take content from the existing world and customize it for delivery to mobile devices. The key to a successful FMC deployment is to compete not on price, but with value-added services.

Three approaches to FMC
There are currently three primary approaches in the industry to delivering a converged seamless service: Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), VoIP Extension and IMS-VCC (Voice Call Continuity).