Unified Comms > Fixed-Mobile ConvergenceEssentials

Mobile carrier Vodafone has launched an aggressive push into the unified communications space with the launch of Vodafone Business One, a partnership with Cisco and BlackBerry to offer unified communications to small and medium businesses.

Early products and services that shift voice calls seamlessly between wireless LAN and cellular networks are proving themselves to enterprise users.

An interesting thing happened in 1999. The unit price of a long-distance voice call to consumers, which had been falling since the early 1980s, finally crossed over the cost curve and long-distance voice became a loss leader. This eventually led to the acquisition of the long-distance giants by the regional Bells. It was certainly one of those pivotal events in telecom history, but another 1999 event might be even more important.

Telcos are now rolling out converged services on fixed and mobile networks, converting trials to commercial deployments. This year will see another spate of trials, as femtocell technology begins to become available.