Thursday, 6 October 2005 14:36 EST

Stockholm, October 6 2005 - Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) has been a conference and presentation fixture in various forms for many years, but little has so far materialised. Now, the convergence winds of change are fast approaching storm force, whipped up not least by the strong advances of Voice over IP on the one hand and the fixed-mobile substitution trend on the other. Today, mobile operators face a real and major threat to their revenue streams. At the same time, however, they are perfectly positioned to both preserve and grow their portion of the total telecoms spend.

A new whitepaper from Northstream, part of the inCode group of leading strategy and technology advisors for the global wireless industry, outlines the current strong drivers for convergence and the tools available to handle its implications, with a special focus on the Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology.

The newly standardised UMA may well pave the way for convergence as it provides for seamless integration of WLAN access to mobile networks, giving operators a strong proposition for a presence in the residential environment where mobile network coverage sometimes isn’t at its best. A recent survey indicates that more than 50 per cent of mobile subscribers in Western Europe would be likely to sign up for an UMA service within the next 12 months, provided that mobile calls made in the home were priced at fixed line call rates.

In this white paper, Northstream explains why FMC is likely to materialise this time and the driving forces for operators to implement FMC technologies are explained. The paper also puts a timeline on the different potential FMC technologies to use. It is concluded that the UMA technology is the viable solution available now and that it can be highly useful in a number of situations, although not necessarily optimal for all operators.

“The incentives for an operator to launch UMA largely depend on each unique situation. Operators in markets with high competition, high availability of broadband and WLAN in homes are the most likely to offer a UMA service” says Bengt Nordström, Chief Strategy Officer at inCode. “The main drivers for an operator to launch UMA are to improve in-home coverage, to take part in the fixed-to-mobile substitution trend and to reduce churn through service bundles.”

Download the complete whitepaper on www.northstream.se

About Northstream:
Northstream – an inCode company - provides strategic technology and business advice to the wireless industry. Northstream has assembled a multinational team of experts on wireless communication and technology that supports many of the industry’s leading companies in their strategic and tactical challenges. Through its parent company, US-based inCode Wireless, Northstream has a global presence and client base.