Fixed mobile convergence forcing vendors and operators to look at world differently

Rogers Wireless Inc. has joined with five other network operators to meet the challenge of communicating network and device needs to manufacturers and others in a fast-converging environment. Rogers Communications Inc. VP of business development Alexander Brock tells Report on Wireless that the new Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA) will provide a single point of contact with vendors to develop new infrastructure and devices. Brock explains that the group’s goal is to educate the equipment vendor community as to what the networks of the future need to look like, how they need to operate, and what types of capabilities they need to incorporate. "The point of the FMCA is to provide a focal point for the development of equipment for the vendor community, basically the carrier community has a single point of contact and focus to tell the vendor community that this is what we want to do and this is how we want to do it in the context of fixed mobile convergence. "What we’re trying to do in the FMCA is to accelerate the development of a) infrastructure, but b) the standards in terms of practically getting terminal devices out there using the standards in such a way that they become mass market," Brock says. It is still early in the conception and development of converged products, but first generation versions of such devices are already beginning to show up on the market. Camera phones are by far the most popular, according to several industry statistics on takeup rates. Some figures estimate that camera phone sales will be higher than those of simple digital cameras. Bluetooth-enabled PDAs and handsets, as well as PDAs with integrated Wi-Fi are being introduced by a variety of vendors. Brock says that British Telecom, one of the founding members, is also trialing a fixed mobile converged device, dubbed the Bluephone. He says that Rogers is also "doing some interesting things", but offered no further details.

Fixed mobile convergence forcing vendors and operators to look at world differently

News | 08/24/2004 4:00 am EDT

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