Convergence comes in from the cold

With the introduction of a new specification, fixed-mobile convergence may be closer than ever. But will all parties agree to adopt it?

Fixed-mobile convergence, enabled by bringing mobile phone services indoors, is the goal of the recently announced Unlicensed Mobile Access specification for

Backed by 14 GSM vendors and operators, the UMA specification signals that, "fixed-mobile convergence is something that no vendor can afford to ignore," said Peter Jarich, principal analyst for wireless infrastructure at Current Analysis, in a report assessing the spec's implications.

Global usage figures back up that assertion. The number of global wireless phone subscribers surpassed the number of wireline subscribers in 2002. Similarly, Forrester Research reports that a survey of people in seven European countries revealed a quarter of mobile users have switched at least some of their fixed line use to mobile and six per cent of mobile users intend to cancel their fixed connection in the future.

That trend is not lost on UMA supporters, which include US operators AT&T Wireless Services, Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA, Canadian operator Rogers Wireless, UK operators BT and O2 plus vendors Alcatel, Ericsson, Kineto Wireless, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Siemens and Sony Ericsson.

Creation of the open UMA specification validates the fixed-mobile convergence approach advocated by California-based start-up Kineto, which has been touting its vision of Mobile over WLAN, or MoWLAN, services for more than a year.

By adding Bluetooth or 802.11 technologies to a cellular handset, the device can be used to access wireless voice and data services delivered indoors over WLAN or wireless personal area network (WPAN) access points. In this scenario, users would get more solid indoor coverage for their cellular phones, mobile operators would be able to offload the indoor traffic from their congested macro cellular networks and fixed operators could use UMA to provide mobile services. The WLANs or WPANs would get their broadband access via fixed lines, including cable or DSL, or eventually via wireless links such as WiMAX.

Thanks to the UMA spec, Kineto's fixed-mobile solution is no longer proprietary, making it a more competitive offering. Yet Jarich notes creation of the specification will also pit the start-up company against major competitors, including UMA supporters Motorola and Ericsson, the latter having long touted convergence via its Mobile@Home solution.

However, Jarich criticised the spec for failing to address IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS, plans. IMS is an architectural framework developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to facilitate convergence and development of IP-based wireless services. "In order to signal that UMA specifications are in line with operator initiatives and will leverage packet investments, potential linkages between IMS and UMA need to be better detailed," he wrote.

The UMA spec was submitted to 3GPP's G-RAN committee as a working item to be considered for inclusion in a formal industry standard. Nothing has been introduced into 3GPP2, though UMA supporters claim the CDMA community is interested in the spec.

However, not everyone finds validity in the WLAN approach to fixed-mobile convergence. Dan Wonak, senior vice president of business development at Telular, a long-time provider of fixed wireless local loop products, he states the combination of comparatively poor mobile phone call quality and the degradation inherent in voice-over-IP technology will make UMA's approach a poor substitute for landline communications. Furthermore, Wonak faults UMA for its reliance upon dual-mode handsets and extensive indoor WLAN infrastructures.

In contrast, Ken Kolderup, Kineto's vice president of marketing, says the UMA spec has momentum because it will allow operators with extensive Wi-Fi hotspot deployments to further leverage those investments, while other operators will use UMA architectures to exploit home and office deployments of WLANs. "There's this very significant infrastructure of high-performance in-building wireless networks being built up," he observes.

The new spec is expected to play a leading role in BT's Bluephone fixed-mobile convergence project. BT has a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with Vodafone for the mobile portion of the service. The Motorola V series mobile handset has been announced for use with the Bluephone project and will provide standard cellular services as well as Bluetooth-based cordless services at home and in the office.

BT is also the initial chair of the recently formed Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance, which Kolderup notes is not a specifications group but rather a group of operators that are sharing ideas and opening a dialogue with the vendor community on the broad topic of fixed-mobile convergence. On the other hand, he notes, UMA "was a specific effort by a number of companies to create, publish and promote a set of specifications for fixed-mobile convergence."