Technology Assessment: FMC –
Fixed Mobile Convergence
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DeLynn Bettencourt – delynnb@gmail.com
Kevin Cheng - kkwcheng@gmail.com
Yuval Elshtein – elshtein@haas.berkeley.edu
Qintao Zhang - qtzhang@berkeley.edu
Overview
• Trends in Spectrum
• Fixed Mobile Convergence Technology
• Industry Overview
• Proponents of technology
• Industry reaction
• Strategic considerations
Spectrum trends
Source: Federal Communications Commission
FMC
Source: Cisco
Multi-Mode Mobile Device
Diagram of Multi-mode Mobile Device Usage
Office
(IPBX/WLAN)
Coffee Shop (Hotspots)
Airport
(Hotspots)
Driving (Cellular
Network)
Home (Wi-Fi or local
wireline provider)
USER
Multi-Mode Mobile Device
Diagram of Multi-mode Mobile Device Usage
Office
(IPBX/WLAN)
Coffee Shop (Hotspots)
?
Airport
(Hotspots)
Driving (Cellular
Network)
Home (wi-fi or local
wireline provider)
USER
The Promise of FMC
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Single phone and phone number for
all locations
Able to choose the lowest rate and
SEAMLESSLY transfer calls to take
advantage of it
Have decent cell reception indoors
Multi-Mode Mobile Device
Examples of Multi-mode Phones
Motorola CN620 dual-mode
Gigaset SL75 WLAN
phone (not pictured)
VoIP cordless telephone
- roam between cellular
for the home or office
and 802.11 networks
Works with about 75 per cent of access
points from Avaya and Proxim Corp.
UTStarCom F1000 WIFI
VOIP Phone
Industry Overview
Average Monthly Household Telecommunications Expenditures
By Type of Provider
Average Monthly Household Telecommunications Expenditures
By Type of Provider
Year
Local Exchange
Long Distance
Total
Wireless Provider
Total
1995
$30.00
$21.00
$51.00
$7.00
$58.00
2003
$37.00
$10.00
$47.00
$41.00
$88.00
Source: Calculated by FCCIndustry Analysis and Technology Division staff using survey data from TNS
Telecoms
Industry Overview
Top US Wireless Network Operators
Top US Wireline Network Operators
Company
Annual Sales
Name
(2004)
Verizon
71.2 B$
AT&T[2]
30.5 B$
Sprint/Nextel
27.4 B$
MCI
20.6 B$
Company
Name
Annual Sales
(2004)
Venture of
Cingular
Wireless
19.4 B$
BellSouth (wireline) and SBC
Communications (wireline)
Verizon
Wireless
27.6 B$
Verizon (wireline) and Vodafone (UK
wireless)
Sprint/Nextel
27.4 B$
Sprint (US Wireless) and Nextel (US
Wireless)
T-Mobile
9.3 B$
Deutsche Telekom (German Wireline)
Top Cable and Satellite Companies (Ranked By Sales)
Company
Name
Annual Sales
(2004)
Number of customers
Comcast
Cable
19.3 B$
21.5 million
- 7 million broadband customers
Directv
11.4 B$
14 million
Time Warner
Cable
8.4 B$
10.9 million
– 4.1 million broadband
customers
Partnered with MCI and Sprint in
order to offer Digital Phone,
a VoIP telephony service
Pushing FMC
Handset Manufacturers
Company Name
Annual Sales (2004)
Nokia
39,6B$
Motorola
31,3 B$
Samsung
9,2 B$
Siemens
93,4 B$
Sony Ericsson
Mobile
8,9 B$
• Fairly inexpensive to add Wi-Fi capability to a handset,
•FMC is a truly disruptive technology that provides both
cost savings and convenience to the customer
Affected players
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Wireline
• Usually the ones who supply high speed
Internet access to businesses
• Interface to wired service while at home
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Cellular Service Providers
• Reduce customer churn
• Cingular, Verizon, and Sprint/Nextel are
reselling access to a 3,300+ hotspot network
operated by Wayport, Inc.
Affected players
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VoIP
• Skype, a major VoIP provider, will have its
service installed on the i-mate PDA
• VoIP pureplays will need strategic partnerships
to ensure they remain in the FMC network
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Handset Manufacturers
• Should partner with service providers to
ensure rollout of FMC “Avaya To Resell Dual-mode Motorola Handset
For Cellular, WLAN Networks”
Affected players
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Handset OS
• Meanwhile, Microsoft is
partnering with Sleipner-Calypso
to provide seamless transfer
capability using software
• “Kineto Wireless, has joined the Symbian
Platinum Partner program and will port the
Kineto UMA Client Software to the Symbian OS
platform”
Strategy Issues
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System Effects:
• FMC relies on the interworking of
several components: the handset, the
cellular network, the VoIP technology,
the WIFI network, among others
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Lock-in
• Providing partial call rollover (transition
only to authorized networks) might be
employed by incumbent cellular carriers
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Network Effects?
Strategy Issues
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Standards
• 802.11x
• Seamless transition standards are crucial
• Kineto wireless ( a startup supplier of
convergence hardware ) was able to sign up
most of the major vendors to the UMA
(unlicensed mobile access) standard,
eventually becoming 3GPP (3rd Generation
Partnership Program)
British Telecom
Cingular Ericsson
Motorola Nokia
Nortel Networks
O2
Research in Motion Rogers Wireless
Siemens Sony Ericsson
T-Mobile US
Questions?
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FMC – Fixed/Mobile Convergence (also called WCC - Wifi/Cellular
convergence
And Cell-Fi)
AP - Wifi access point
IP PBXs – Digital PBX system that uses VOIP
Wi-Fi WLANs - inside the office, wireless phones that use the office
WLAN
VoWLAN – Combination of IP PBX and WLAN to have an in-office portable
phone (also called Voice Over Wi-Fi)
Wireline networks - Use wires and cables to connect customers’
premises to central offices maintained by telecommunications companies.
Wireless networks - Operate through the transmission of signals over
networks of radio towers.
WiMAX — World Interoperability for Microwave Access, also known as
IEEE 802.16 — is an emerging global broadband wireless standard
LEC – Local Exchange Carriers. Wireline service providers that connect a
voice call locally
VOIP – Voice over IP. Voice communications are normally split up and
reassembled by telecommunications companies’ switching and routing
equipment. Voice over Internet Protocol splits up the conversation into
packets in the telephone, transmitting the conversation over the Internet.