Convergence and Fixed-Mobile Substitution

A number of trends are covered under the heading convergence and substitution, including fixed-mobile substitution, wireless services substituting for wired services, IP telephony substituting for circuit switched voice telephony, bundled offers of mobile, fixed, broadband and TV and, finally, truly converged communication and digital media services that are delivered irrespective of the means of access and allow multiple communications within one session.  Coleago can assess the implications and opportunities of these trends for your company.

Fixed-Mobile Substitution, including voice and data; developments include HSDPA, UMA, WiFi and WiMax. In emerging markets the real focus is on access rather than mobility and substitution can be understood as wireless substituting for wired services. The recent flurry of WiMax service initiatives in emerging markets illustrates this trend. In this context mobility, or nomadic use, is more of a service feature.

Convergence going beyond mere bundling of services with a focus on IP based services, such as Skype, offer users a converged experience. Eventually the use of IMS, which is called multimedia domain (MMD) in the 3GPP2/CDMA standards, will be ubiquitous.

Digital Media Integration includes IPTV mobile TV and enhanced TV services with integrated communications features such as chat in linear programmes and content on demand including pay-per-view, VOD, push VOD.