Market trends for convergence:
Cellular/Wi-Fi devices, wireless VoIP and
converged services
Monica Basso
Research Director
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Road to Wired/Wireless Convergence
Converged Network
IP
Ethernet
Many Networks
IP Everywhere
Steps
Along the
Road
IP Cellular
Wi-Fi/Cellular Convergence (Voice)
Wi-Fi/Cellular Roaming (Voice)
Wired/Wireless Backbone Convergence (IMS)
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)
Wireless
Voice
Wired Access @ Wireless Access (WiMax)
Data
Wired
Wi-Fi Voice
Wi-Fi/Cellular Convergence (data devices)
LAN/WLAN Convergence
2006
2008
2010+
New Cellular-WiFi devices
Cellular/Wi-Fi devices:

Ericsson P990 (IPT client support
unclear)

Nokia E60, E60 and E70, all with
IPT clients for Avaya and Cisco

QTEK 9100+8300

Motorola CN620 (and others)

Nokia 9500 (Series 80 – unclear
whether/which the IPT clients)

Alcatel One-touch 701
Wi-Fi only handsets:

BlackBerry 7270 (Avaya IPT)

Cisco Wireless IP-phone 7920

Others from Mitsubishi etc
WLAN-Enabled VOIP Device Strategies
WLAN-only soft phones
Full member of PBX/IP-PBX
Firebox
"Deskphone"
Discrete Cellular/WLAN operation
Seamless desk phone to mobile phone roaming
Seamless mobile phone to IP-PBX phone
roaming
Motorola CN 620
Wireless Voice:
Still the Dominant application

Infrastructure costs 4x basic wireless
networking to support VoIP

Only 5 percent terminations

But 80 percent of employees
will use it occasionally,
e.g. SOHO, Skype...
VoIP over
Wireless


Shift from fixed to mobile continues
Mobile replaces corporate PBX
–
Requires customized contracts
–
Indoor coverage limitations
–
May lose some
PBX features
Cellular
replaces
fixed lines
Cellular
voice
trends

Costs fall, bundles grow

“Free” voice and data

Operators look for value-added
services to preserve the “cash cow”

Operator voice profits fall
Convergence: Carriers and Services
Bundling — multiple vertical
services, but little integration
Access
Network Services
Content and media
Cellular
Customer care
Games
WiFi hotspots
Billing and support
Music
Fixed telephone
Directory services
Video
Fixed Broadband
Messaging, e-mail, voicemail
Ring tones
Broadcast
Authentication
News
Wireless Broadband
Presence
Payment
Convergence — horizontally,
integrated service combinations
Mobile Operator Disintermediation
WiFi and wireless broadband attack 3G
DVB and DABS broadcast compete with streaming media
3rd party media portals (e.g. iTunes) compete with operators
Outsourcers and service providers attack value-added applications
Internet access and browsers on phones sideline WAP and operator portals
Handset e-mail and IM erodes SMS, MMS
“Free” VoIP over WiFi / WiMax / Bluetooth erodes voice traffic
Bluetooth and WiFi on handsets attacks everything
Recommendations

Aggregate mobile and remote access technologies into
consistent services for users — independent of the
access technology.

Test WLAN-enabled cell phones to assess their impact
on the future direction of in-building communications.

Explore wireless VoIP for special cases such as campus
environments with low employee density.

Prepare for the evolution of the network infrastructure.

Explore bundled and converged offerings, but resist to
operator pressure for value-added services that don’t
match enterprise needs.