You can't complain that there's nothing going on in the area of fixed-mobile convergence, but there are some questions about exactly what is happening. The market has sent three different signals over the last few months, and just how FMC might impact the fixed or wireline service side of networking depends on which signal prevails.

Some of the big cable operators, including Comcast, Time Warner and Cox, finally are launching mobile virtual network operator ventures with Sprint. These services have emerged later than expected and are offered in a small part of the cable giants' total service area, but they're still a shot across the bow of the RBOCs. The Bells had hoped that mobile would differentiate them from their cable competitors.

The cable mobile voice offerings are a combination of "passive bundles" that offer integrated billing and unlimited calling between the mobile service and cable voice service, as well as some integration of voice mail, access to e-mail and program listings on mobile devices. But these new services aren't fully converged voice and data; they're a step between.

AT&T has seen the obvious threat of the cable move and responded with its own program to make voice calling between its mobile service and wireline voice customers free. Like the cable plans, the AT&T Unity plan lets inter-calling customers talk without extra charges and without consuming mobile minutes. Verizon likely will follow suit.

So far, this seems to be a new example of the telecom arms race. If one player offered wireless/wireline unlimited calling, they'd clearly win the hearts (or at least wallets) of consumers. If everyone does it, the move is nothing but table stakes and an example of continued commoditization of voice services, including mobile.

At least one player doesn't want a purely price-driven FMC market to happen and expects to make money on preventing it. Ericsson, one of the international equipment giants that supply both wireline and mobile providers, acquired broadband remote access server vendor Redback Networks. While this move gives Ericsson a foothold in the wireline access space, it hardly gives the company a full complement of metro equipment. Instead, Ericsson likely expects to leverage its mobile position, but that can be done only if FMC becomes more than stuffing another bill into the same envelope.