Players emphasize lower international costs, broad handset support
There’s been a flurry of activity on the fixed mobile convergence front, a discipline currently placing a large emphasis on slashing international roaming and long-distance charges for users of dual-mode mobile devices.
Another focus is getting the unified communications and Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoff capabilities to work with the latest and greatest dual-mode devices, including Android-based handsets and the Apple iPad and iPhone. Particularly onerous for third parties to deliver is native application support for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, as RIM is notorious for keeping many of its APIs close to the vest.
10 essential BlackBerry apps for travel
Among the latest developments:
* Geos Communications, a worldwide provider of mobile network services and applications, is using FMC vendor Agito Networks’ RoamAnywhere Mobility routers in its data center to offer a hosted FMC cloud service. The service — MyGlobalTalk ROVE (Roam Often Virtually Everywhere) — puts PBX features such as chat, presence and conference calling in the user’s mobile device, which can be used in 53 countries.
Geos says it is basing its service on the Agito gear primarily because it was the only third-party FMC supplier that could natively support RIM BlackBerry phones. Agito, which announced BlackBerry support last year, says it built the capability from scratch without VoIP APIs from RIM.
* RIM announced its own support of VoIP over Wi-Fi for its BlackBerry devices using a new, rearchitected version of the company’s Mobile Voice System, MVS 5. Prior to this development “Wi-Fi on Blackberry was being used for data,” says Manish Punjabi, senior director, collaborative mobile voice for RIM. “MVS has become a software application that allows enterprise workers to make or receive desk calls anywhere in the world on a BlackBerry,” Punjabi says.
* Verizon Business announced an operator-agnostic FMC service in Europe to combat the still-hefty roaming and long-distance prices in Europe. Graham Starkins, group manager for FMC products at the company, says a North American version of the service is “on the roadmap for next year.”
