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Mobile operators are now making key and far-ranging decisions about the future of their consumer fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services. While enterprise FMC services are clearly following the route of voice call continuity (VCC) and session initiation protocol (SIP) solutions, consumer FMC services will take one of two major paths, based on each mobile operator’s view of the market, and the nature of its existing network assets.

According to ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis, “Today, consumer FMC services that are based on Wi-Fi use UMA to manage the connection choice and handover between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. These services are ramping up quickly in Europe, due to intense competition between Orange, BT, and other mobile operators. In North America, T-Mobile USA is about to go nationwide with its UMA-based FMC service as well.”

“However,” added research director Stuart Carlaw, “mobile operators such as Vodafone, SFR, Softbank, and Sprint are at the leading edge among carriers exploring femtocell technologies. With their ability to work with any handset, and their potential for encouraging high data use, femtocells are very attractive when compared to VCC and UMA-based Wi-Fi services.”

Although there are technical advantages and disadvantages associated with dual-mode and femtocell approaches, an equally important consideration will be the shape of an operator’s overall business. For T-Mobile and Orange it makes sense for them to leverage current public Wi-Fi network investments by adopting a dual-mode approach; but other carriers will see femtocells as an opportunity to differentiate themselves in highly competitive markets.

A femtocell is a small access point device that has cellular base station capabilities and resides in a customer’s home or business. The femtocell is connected back to the cellular network via a broadband Internet connection. Unlike UMA-based access points that serve dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi phones with cellular to Wi-Fi handoff, the femtocell approach does not require dual-mode phones and delivers all of the cell services into the home or business. The femtocell-enable services include voice, messaging, e-mail, Internet access and IPTV (future). ABI Research predicts that femtocell deployment will surpass dual-mode UMA sometime in 2010, thereafter skyrocketing in popularity.

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