Technological advances promised just a few years ago either already have been launched or are well on their way to becoming commercial services, as demonstrated by the breadth of high-tech announcements at the recent 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Whether it’s IMS, VoIP, location-based apps or dual-mode devices, service providers are starting to navigate uncharted waters.
Instead of operating in separate industry silos-where wireless is offered through one pipe and cable TV is offered through another and the two don’t interact-the market is moving toward seamless solutions. The physical boundaries of the networks are beginning to fall down. This evolution brings up some important questions: Should artificial regulatory and business boundaries also be removed? And how fast should they be taken away?
One of the overarching themes at this year’s 3GSM show was the integration of networks-and how service providers will have to advance their business models to best take advantage of this integration. As network operators converge their fixed and wireless businesses, new challenges will arise, commented Nokia’s Mikko Salminen, director of fixed to mobile.
For example, fixed wireline operators use a variety of proprietary standards, which means that converged solutions that work in one country may not translate to another. Even more challenging could be the necessary corporate reorganizations, as fixed and mobile business units get jumbled together. Business units can be fiefdoms, and no one likes someone else invading their turf.
Billing will become another challenge as customers use devices that house a number of different transmission technologies. For example, a customer will want to use Wi-Fi in their house because presumably it will cost less, and only switch to the more expensive cellular network when going outside the “home zone.” How does the carrier charge for that? Is there one bucket of home minutes and another for away minutes? Would customers be happier with just one bucket of minutes they can use whether they are home or away? And how does the carrier notify customers when they roam outside the home zone?
Artificial barriers like area codes may eventually become archaic since they are based on geography, noted Tekelec’s Neil Tomlinson.
Tomlinson told me about an Israeli wireless carrier offering a boundary-busting international calling service. Users can make and receive VoIP calls on their laptops when they are outside of Israel, and the calls appear as if they are terminated on their mobiles. This allows customers to bypass roaming charges.
How does a government regulate-and tax-that? These are serious questions for regulators and industry as technology brings us closer to the point where manmade barriers are more prohibitive than physical and technological ones.
