Aside from BT’s ongoing Fusion efforts, carriers are still sceptical about fixed-mobile convergence, according to analyst In-Stat, and still fear the technology could cannibalise their existing revenues.
In spite of all that, it appears that FMC really is seeing some take-up – In Stat says 20 percent of businesses with wi-fi use it for voice traffic and the analysts reckon that cleverer operators will dream up new applications that will see viral adoption.
The fundamental problem with FMC adoption is that it seems carriers just can’t think up the best way to sell it. Is it business or consumer? Is it just a cost-cutting exercise and, if so, how does it fit in with home zone pricing-type strategies? And if it’s about applications rather than pricing, isn’t it time we see some of those applications actually being offered to customers and being used? I think carriers need to spend a long time back at the drawing board before we’ll see FMC really seeing any substantial take up.