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Twenty two of the world's leading telecom operators, in
collaboration with Tier 1 vendors, are laying the foundations for
the next wave of digital convergence at the Fixed Mobile Convergence
Alliance (FMCA) meeting in Rio de Janeiro, in mid March.
With customers demanding ever increasing access
to information and communications anywhere, the FMCA has set the
pace in helping shape the global communications industry to deliver
new ways for customers to prosper in their business and personal
lives through fully interoperable information technology and
services.
By driving a series of Priority Programmes, the
FMCA seeks to be the "voice of the customer" by providing
customer insight and leadership to create on-going collaborations
between leading telecom operators, vendors and standards
organisations.
For example, underpinning the FMCA's product and
service requirements is its Thought Leadership Programme ("TLP")
on customer needs and market drivers. This combines the customer
insights, business knowledge and technical expertise of the FMCA
membership to demonstrate how value can be created for both
customers and the industry through the Convergence of services and
applications, value propositions and innovation, and rapidly
evolving technologies. The next round of FMCA TLP reports will be
released to industry in March 2008, reflecting deep analytical work
and interviews with senior management across the industry.
Through its collaborative environment, the FMCA
is accelerating the launch and adoption of innovative new services
by being the catalyst for global telecom operators and vendors to
jointly produce and trial commonly agreed product and service
requirements.
The FMCA has been instrumental in ensuring the
adoption of both Wi-Fi UMA and Wi-Fi SIP dual-mode WiFi and cellular
devices, with several of its members having now trialled, bundled or
launched dual-mode services – driven by customer demand and
the increased availability of such devices, from approximately 15 in
early 2007 to over 130 Wi-Fi enabled dual-mode devices and
smartphones in the first quarter of 2008.
The FMCA is driving high speed wireless
broadband access to any device through large scale trials which are
set to deliver a richer roaming experience for customers –
consumer or business - by enabling their choice of dual-mode
handhelds and electronic gadgets to be automatically authenticated
onto wireless broadband networks around the world.
The trials, which are driven by a combination of
Wi-Fi UMA and Wi-Fi SIP services, are backed by telecom operators
such as Rogers Wireless Inc., Swisscom, Telecom New Zealand, Brasil
Telecom, Korea Telecom, Telkom South Africa, Innove Communications
and BT Plc, and include co-operation with the Wireless Broadband
Alliance ("WBA"), a world leader in wireless broadband
roaming.
Underpinned by its mission to ensure customers
around the world have access to the best user experience, on their
choice of device, via the best network available for a given
service, the FMCA's first Interoperability Conference takes place in
France on the 26th of June 2008, in close collaboration with the
European Telecommunications Standards Institute ("ETSI").
Bringing together leading carriers, Tier 1
handset, access point and infrastructure vendors, the FMCA's
Interoperability Conference will focus on how to deliver a superior
service for customers over wireless broadband using the FMCA's
latest Product Requirements Definitions, ("PRD").
"The tremendous support for the FMCA
priority programmes and the Interoperability Conference in June 2008
demonstrates the importance that leading telecom operators, vendors
and industry bodies are placing on meeting growing customer demand
for fully interoperable and user friendly Convergent services",
says Steve Andrews, FMCA Chairman.
With leading carriers around the world
continuing to invest in their next generation IP networks and
platforms, the FMCA is also addressing the inter-working of new
internet based applications such as "user location and
presence" to create a borderless world. These will address
immediate opportunities in areas such as Mobile IM, VoIP, VoIM,
Content Sharing Services and Networked Gaming. Presence Interconnect
trials have been initiated in March 2008. Further details will be
announced in the coming months.
-- Tech Times Online
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