Dualing Business Models

The industry has long been talking about cellular/Wi-Fi dual-mode phones. Plenty of these handsets have been unveiled by the vendor community. And at least a handful of service providers have been playing with them.

According to a new study from ABI Research, shipments of dual-mode (cellular/voice over Wi-Fi) wireless handsets will be in excess of 300 million worldwide by 2011. Just this year, the Wi-Fi Alliance has seen an increase in dual-mode devices and has Wi-Fi CERTIFIED more than 35 handsets. This is up from 15 devices earlier this year.

While incumbent telcos have been toying with these dual-mode devices, which tie into their oft-touted – but yet to be fully evolved – strategy of fixed mobile convergence (FMC). BellSouth Corp. has long been in tests with Grey Advertising in Atlanta, which is in trials with dual-mode Wi-Fi/mobile handsets. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel Corp. has said it plans to provide an integrated communications service package to its fixed and mobile customers, and those of its cable company customers, starting late this year. And it has been reported that Sprint is in a trial on this front using gear from Ericsson and Lucent. New Telephony also understands that AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc., and Verizon are in FMC trials of this nature.

So it would seem realistic to believe that these incumbent service providers will roll out dual-mode services on a commercial basis next year. However, some New Telephony sources say that incumbent wireline operators, even if they have related wireless businesses, are more likely to sit on their hands regarding dual-mode because it just represents another driver for wireline replacement and their wireless operations are already the leaders in the market.

Some sources tell me that it is the VoIP service providers that are, or will be, the early adopters of mobile VoIP. That could initially be through just Wi-Fi handsets, but the VoIP players could also strike partnerships with cellular companies willing to sell wholesale.

In this dual-mode/FMC discussion, it’s probably also worth mentioning another point ABI Research makes in its report. That is Wi-Fi enabled handsets may have to compete with femtocells, the new, small cellular base stations designed for use in residential or corporate environments. Like Wi-Fi access points they connect to the customer's own broadband connection. The firm says operators now believe that they don't need to subsidize more expensive Wi-Fi-enabled handsets; they can use the handsets they have, and put femtocells in the home. So the whole femtocell thing could further delay incumbent service providers’ readiness to commit to the dual-mode model.

ABI Research www.abiresearch.com

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines

Read Comments [0]