30 September 2006

ABI research is tipping huge growth in the sales of dual mode cellular/wifi handsets as fixed mobile convergence gathers momentum, but another potentially disruptive technology could help the mobile operators keep traffic on their networks and ownership of their customers.

I remember at least 10 years ago in the early days of GSM the then head of Vodafone Australia, John Rohan, dreaming of the day when the cellphone would become the primary means of telephonic communication.

Falling prices, soaring penetration levels and 'bucket plans' have all brought that prospect much closer to reality but the growth of VoIP over fixed networks is now threatening to slow this momentum thanks to fixed mobile convergence: the bringing together fixed and mobile communications technologies services and tariffs into a seamless service that uses the lowest cost or most appropriate channel.