02
UMA TODAY
FALL 2008
IS THERE LIFE BEYOND VOICE?
For mobile operators, voice services
continue to be the engine powering the industry, accounting for over 80% of top
line revenues for the major providers worldwide.
The original vision was that operators would continue increasing voice minutes
of use and revenues by accelerating fixed-to-mobile substitution (FMS) in the home
and office. Leveraging the fixed broadband network lowered the cost of mobile
service delivery to a fixed network equivalent, ushering in a new era of `unlimited
flat rate' service plans designed to make the mobile phone the only phone a
consumer needs.
While the FMS mission continues, it's clear that growth in data services
represents a significant opportunity for mobile operators. The availability of home
zone technologies like Wi-Fi and femtocells dramatically increase the performance
of mobile data services in the home. Providing consumers `five bars' or full coverage
in the home translates into a full-rate data connection to the mobile phone, thus
setting the stage for an enhanced mobile data experience.
In this issue, we explore the opportunity for operators' home zone services to move
`beyond voice,' where dual-mode handset and femtocell-based services become
a platform for enhanced data applications. When the mobile phone and mobile
network both `know' the subscriber is in a high-performance, low-cost data-centric
home-zone, there are a myriad of new service opportunities.
Also in this issue, friend of UMA Today and Program Director for Unik at Orange,
Lauren Town talks about Orange's femtocell ambitions and how they relate to its
market leading Wi-Fi-based Unik service.
Our articles run down the latest on the dual-mode handset market, including new
operator launches and handsets available for Fall 2008. We examine the current
state of femtocells and dig into T-Mobile's latest service offer fixed-line home
phone service.
After examining the market, it's clear to us there is still a lot of life in voice, and
tremendous opportunity to move beyond it.
Steve Shaw
Editor, UMA Today
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Editorial
Editor-in-Chief: Steven Shaw
Executive Editor: Abbe Solomon
Design Director: Collin Stone, COGNEO
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