NEW YORK, USA:In a new study from ABI Research, FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence) handset voice connections for business customers are forecast to rise from 6.3 million in 2009 to more than 27 million by 2014.
FMC voice connections include Wi-Fi FMC connections as well as cellular FMC connections using picocells and femtocells.
However, its not just femtocells that are driving up enterprise FMC connections. Says practice director Dan Shey, “While femtocells have been all the rage, dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones will also increase enterprise FMC voice access.”
Indeed, Wi-Fi in smartphones will grow from a 45% attach rate in 2009 to a 90% attach rate in 2014. Business customers are the primary adopters of smartphones and with increased penetration of Wi-Fi smartphones, this change levels the playing field between cellular and Wi-Fi FMC. Previously, the knock against FMC solutions particularly for VoWi-Fi was the lack of Wi-Fi phones.
Another variable affecting the business FMC landscape is business customers accessing the web, watching videos and connecting to social networking sites for personal reasons. FMC solutions and smartphones provide IT managers with ways to manage these kinds of connections.
The wildcards for enterprise FMC are downloadable VoIP applications from companies such as Skype and Truphone. Says Shey, “Downloadable apps that offer VoIP connections over Wi-Fi or on unlimited cellular data plans may not be enterprise-grade for now.
However, their availability will change how we view VoIP on cell phones, leading to some interesting opportunities and challenges for the mobile supply chain.
Showing posts with label fixed-mobile convergence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fixed-mobile convergence. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Trends in fixed-mobile convergence
Kudos to my colleague, Idhries Ahmad, for having put together a wonderful piece on fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). Click here to read this special!
I would just like to highlight the trends on FMC in India. FMC is definitely at a very early stage in the Asia-Pacific region itself, and probably nascent in India.
Akshay Agarwal, Ecosystem Partner Manager - India & Korea, Texas Instruments, India forecasts that service providers in India may start with pre-IMS, skip UMA and may jump to IMS directly. Besides, the successful adoption of FMC would also depend on the deployment of 3G and Wi-Fi. Pre-IMS services could mainly be applications such as instant messaging and photo sharing.
The contribution of value-added services (VAS) has been steadily increasing and is likely to form a major portion of FMC revenues in the near future. Even as the FMC services market gains traction, the go-to-market strategy of service providers should be to provide a variety of FMC-compliant dual-mode handsets to customers.
At this point, the Indian telcos are still focused on meeting the high demand for basic voice services, and are gradually opening up to generating demand for converged service offerings.
Rising income, declining handset prices, and an increased awareness of viable mobile services among masses has led to the growing adoption of mobility solutions. The major areas of growth will be the youth segment and the rural areas.
FMC could be the solution to provide rich media services to the end customers. It may facilitate both fixed and mobile operators a magical solution to provide high-end services to subscribers, further entail the convergence of access networks, and help the operators to integrate their forces to tap the huge potential of rural India.
I would just like to highlight the trends on FMC in India. FMC is definitely at a very early stage in the Asia-Pacific region itself, and probably nascent in India.
Akshay Agarwal, Ecosystem Partner Manager - India & Korea, Texas Instruments, India forecasts that service providers in India may start with pre-IMS, skip UMA and may jump to IMS directly. Besides, the successful adoption of FMC would also depend on the deployment of 3G and Wi-Fi. Pre-IMS services could mainly be applications such as instant messaging and photo sharing.
The contribution of value-added services (VAS) has been steadily increasing and is likely to form a major portion of FMC revenues in the near future. Even as the FMC services market gains traction, the go-to-market strategy of service providers should be to provide a variety of FMC-compliant dual-mode handsets to customers.
At this point, the Indian telcos are still focused on meeting the high demand for basic voice services, and are gradually opening up to generating demand for converged service offerings.
Rising income, declining handset prices, and an increased awareness of viable mobile services among masses has led to the growing adoption of mobility solutions. The major areas of growth will be the youth segment and the rural areas.
FMC could be the solution to provide rich media services to the end customers. It may facilitate both fixed and mobile operators a magical solution to provide high-end services to subscribers, further entail the convergence of access networks, and help the operators to integrate their forces to tap the huge potential of rural India.
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