Operators Take First Steps to Convergence With UMA, Finds Report15 December 2005
Mobile operators looking to deploy Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) to kick-start fixed/mobile convergence must quickly integrate it with other, more disruptive, IP-based services to make the gamble pay off, according to a new report from the subscription research service Unstrung Insider (http://www.unstrung.com/insider).
The report, entitled Wireless VOIP & UMA: Friends or Foes?, provides an assessment of the forces that are driving UMA adoption, combined with analysis of UMA technology, standards, equipment provider initiatives, and operator deployment scenarios. The focus is on how UMA can exploit a narrow window of opportunity (around three years) before SIP-WiFi and IMS solutions are standardized, mature, and ready for the mass market.
"UMA appeals to operators because it's standardized, it works, and it preserves the traditional call model," says Unstrung Insider analyst Gabriel Brown. "But to develop services with truly mass-market appeal, UMA must integrate with more disruptive IP-based mechanisms, such as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) and wireline VOIP."
Potential integration scenarios could include a service that uses UMA for seamless in-call mobile handover in combination with fixed-line communications services to the home that use SIP-based call control, with each service integrated in the service provider's back office to provide common features such as a single bill, cross-platform network presence, and shared address books.
Among the report's key findings:
* UMA is being used a marketing tool to show investors that M&A betwee ireline and wireless players, partially justified as "positioning fo onvergence," can produce integrated services relatively rapidly.
* UMA is not just about low-cost access; it also has a role in creatin ew types of converged services, including integration with SIP-base pplications or the delivery of high-speed multimedia services t andheld devices in the home.
* Home gateways are a thorny issue for telcos. To gain the control the ant over subscribers, they will likely have to ship and suppor ubsidized CPE and build this into the service price over a lon ontract.
* Handset choice is the primary challenge to UMA. A large selection woul elp operators overcome their concerns about the impact of UMA on thei usiness models.
* On the infrastructure side, Motorola and Alcatel appear most committe o UMA. Both vendors can use it as a small but effective component o heir strategies to expand their presence in the mobile core (which i elatively less than their peers) and can link it to other convergenc nitiatives in which they are involved.
Service providers covered in this report: BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA); Cingular Wireless LLC (a joint venture of BellSouth Corp. [NYSE: BLS] and AT&T Inc. [NYSE: T]); KT Corp. (NYSE: KTC); Orange SA (a subsidiary of France Telecom SA [NYSE/Paris: FTE]); Saunalahti Group Oyj (Helsinki: SAG1V); SunCom Wireless Inc. (NYSE: TPC); Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI); TeliaSonera AB (Pink Sheets: TLSNF; Stockholm: TLSN); and T-Mobile USA Inc. (a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG [NYSE: DT; Germany: DTE]).
Equipment providers in this report: Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGE); Azaire Networks Inc.; Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO); Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERICY: Stockholm: ERIC); Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT); Netrake Corp.; Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK; Helsinki: NOK1V); and Reef Point Systems Inc.
Wireless VOIP & UMA: Friends or Foes? is available as part of an annual subscription (12 monthly issues) to Unstrung Insider, priced at $1,350. Individual reports are available for $900. To subscribe, please visit: http://www.unstrung.com/insider.
For additional information, to request a free executive summary of the report, or for details of multi-user licensing options, please contact:
Jeff Claudino
Director of Sales
Insider Research Services
619-229-9940
claudino@lightreading.com
For press inquiries, members of the media may contact Gabriel Brown at brown@unstrung.com.
About Light Reading
Light Reading Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CMP Media, is a B-to-B network information provider. Light Reading publishes http://www.lightreading.com, the leading global content site for the telecom industry; http://www.byteandswitch.com, a storage networking site; and http://www.unstrung.com, dedicated to wireless networking. Light Reading is also affiliated with http://www.heavyreading.com, a market research site for quantitative analysis of telecom technology to carriers, service providers, and vendors.
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Source: prnewswire
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