Operators and Vendors Plot Routes to Convergence in the Mobile Core

Operators and Vendors Plot Routes to Convergence in the Mobile
Core
With the Uptake of Wireless LAN and Broadband VOIP, Interest in Providing
Alternative Access into the Mobile Core Is Exploding, Finds Report 


NEW YORK, April 25  /PRNewswire/ -- The explosion of broadband wireless and
VOIP is forcing the pace of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), but it presents
huge challenges to mobile operators seeking to retain their primacy in the
communications value chain, according to a new report from the subscription
research service Unstrung Insider (http://www.unstrung.com/insider).

The report, entitled Routes to Roam: Convergence in the Mobile Core, analyzes a
range of mechanisms designed to integrate alternative access networks with the
packet- and circuit-switched mobile core. These mechanisms bring users of
converged services the benefits of mobility and provide operators with a way to
capture extra traffic and retain control over the call or data session.

Technologies under evaluation include Unlicensed Mobile Access, WLAN-3GPP, and
SIP-SS7 gateways. The key question, looking forward, is how these mechanisms
will support the transition to full-blown convergence architectures based on
IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem).

"Operators and major vendors are clear that they want to move to an IMS network
for rich-media services and to enable the interworking of applications between
wireless and wireline networks," says the report's author, Unstrung Insider
Chief Analyst Gabriel Brown. "Although the long-term vision is in place, there
could be competitive advantage in deploying an interim solution."

According to the report, how mobile operators manage the transition to
converged networks and services will be the key to their battle with wireline
providers, which see convergence as a way to fight back against the mobility
franchise of cellular.

  Among the report's key findings:

   * The licensed-spectrum mobile franchise is intact, but expectations for
     modest revenue growth have upped the pressure on operators to leverage
     service-aware core networks in the converged world.

   * UMA's convergence vision has gotten mixed reviews: It's standards-based
     and relatively straightforward, but the window of opportunity is
     closing fast.

   * Subscriber data in the HLR/HSS is the key for mobile operators to
     deliver converged services over diverse access networks.

   * SIP-based mobile VOIP is gaining momentum, with several vendors
     pitching systems as stepping stones to IMS -- which most major
     operators and vendors see as the medium- and long-term goal for the
     mobile core.



Vendors covered in this report: Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGE); Azaire
Networks Inc.; BridgePort Networks Inc.; Ericsson AB (NASDAQ:ERICY); Kineto
Wireless Inc.; LongBoard Inc.; Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU); Motorola
Inc. (NYSE:MOT); NewStep Networks Inc.; Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK); Siemens AG
(NYSE: SI; Frankfurt: SIE); and UTStarcom Inc. (NASDAQ:UTSI).

Routes to Roam: Convergence in the Mobile Core 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
   Sales Manager
   Insider Research Services
   619-229-9940
   

  For press inquiries, please contact:

   Gabriel Brown
   Chief Analyst
   Insider Research Services
   44-20-7701-9330
   

DATASOURCE: Unstrung Insider



CONTACT: Jeff Claudino, Sales Manager, Insider Research Services,

[phone], ; Gabriel Brown, Chief Analyst,

Insider Research Services, [phone],  



Web site:  http://www.unstrung.com/insider 

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