FALL 2008
UMA TODAY
13
As witnessed by the commercial success of dual-mode Wi-Fi handset services from T-Mobile U.S.
with its Unlimited HotSpot Calling service and Orange with Unik, there is clear consumer demand for
HomeZone 2.0 (HZ2.0) offers that provide reliable coverage and low-cost mobile calling from home.
In addition, operators are realizing clear value through the delivery of these initial HZ2.0 offers.
As reported in WIRED, David Beigie, T-Mobile's vice president of marketing, said the company's
UMA-based service has "blown away internal estimates." T-Mobile recently stated that nearly 50% of
subscribers to its Unlimited HotSpot Calling service are new to T-Mobile.
This inbound churn is a boon for T-Mobile fighting for market share in a mature, competitive
mobile telecom market. Orange is also reporting impressive results, including an incredible
three-times-lower churn rate from subscribers signing up for its UMA service, Unik.
The success of these services is forcing the handset market to pay closer attention. Speaking at
RIM's 2008 Capital Markets Day on May 12, Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIM), took
the opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous progress UMA has made in the market.
"Wi-Fi UMA is going remarkably well," he remarked. "It's very compelling...This is happening, and
it's happening fast."
In a Q&A session later in the day, Balsillie continued to laud UMA. "Some [carriers] saw it as a
threat. I saw it as an enabler, an inevitability. In a sense, it's hard to find a carrier that isn't excited
about it now." And he went on: "I think it's just so compelling and so inevitable."
And there's room for so much more. HZ2.0 service offers based solely on improved coverage or
low-cost mobile calling ignore the tremendous value and potential of HZ2.0 technology for both
consumers and operators.
Ultimately, HZ2.0 services are the basis for mobile operators to `own the home.' With an eye
toward making the mobile handset a key element of the `connected home,' mobile operators can take
advantage of the capabilities of a HZ2.0 service to also deliver high-speed, low-cost mobile data access.
Of course a key benefit of the HZ2.0 is location awareness, giving the mobile handset and operator
the ability to recognize when the subscriber is in the home or office, enabling the handset to actually
behave differently.
The full value of HZ2.0 services will be realized as operators move beyond the initial cheap
voice propositions and begin leveraging the high-performance, low-cost and location awareness
advantages of Wi-Fi and/or femtocell access points to drive mobile data demand and capitalize on
the connected home.
COMPELLING MOBILE DATA EXPERIENCE
In addition to enabling high-quality,
low-cost mobile calling at home, HZ2.0 services (whether based on dual-mode Wi-Fi handsets or
femtocells) can also provide high-speed, low-cost mobile data services to subscribers.
With rising consumer interesting in mobile data services, such as mobile social networking, mobile
TV and mobile maps, operators are in a position to leverage HZ2.0 services to capitalize on this growing
demand by providing a compelling mobile data experience at home.
In a recent article in Wireless Week, Peter Thornycroft, director of product marketing for Wi-Fi
infrastructure leader Aruba Networks, wrote: "Data services, when connected to the WLAN, will be
completely secure and much faster than cellular data, allowing mobility [within the enterprise] based
on the UMA phone."
The arguments for mobile operators offering data services continue. "Mobile operators no longer
consider WLAN a threat against data revenues," said André Malm, telecom analyst, Berg Insight.
"As flat-rate plans for data access become the norm, encouraging subscribers to use a local Internet
connection actually makes much sense as a way to prevent data overload in mobile networks."