The Jeff Pulver Blog: Fixed Mobile Convergence Challenged: Who Says we want to talk with our PDAs?

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September 03, 2006

Fixed Mobile Convergence Challenged: Who Says we want to talk with our PDAs?

I’m amazed how often people just assume that the widespread availability of public Wi-Fi hotspots means that therefore Wi-Fi VoIP is a done deal. While there is no doubt in my mind the advent of public Wi-Fi means that in the future consumers will have a choice of whether to pay for data services on their mobile phones or choose to take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots to use PCs, PDAs and other IP supported devices, who says that people will be using these devices as a replacement /substitute for their mobile phones?

Sure, it is easy to get sucked into the mythology of the hype surrounding Fixed-Mobile Convergence, but there are also times when one has to ask whether or not “the emperor is wearing any clothing.” While Kellogg’s can enter a marketplace and introduce a new breakfast cereal whether or not there is a need for one, Kellogg’s has the ability to pull this off. And while I’m not really trying to make a link between breakfast cereals and Fixed-Mobile convergence, I do have to ask the question of “who are the buyers for the service?” and outside of the early-adaptor geek population, “how will consumers end up with these converged communication devices?” and while I’m at it, “how many people will choose to talk on these devices rather than use them for email, instant messaging and access to the web?”

The world of IP Communications continues to raise more questions than answers. Back in 1997 I remember in engaging in a public conversation with Vint Cerf at a trade show when I asked him: “In the future, will there be more people talking to each other using PCs with headsets or on regular telephones?” Vint’s answer was spoken with authority when he said “I don’t know.” If I knew how to take polls with this blog, my question of the moment would be: “Seven years from now – will there be more people speaking over Mobile networks or on Wi-Fi/Wi-Max networks?”

Tags: VoIP, VON, Jeff Pulver

(c) 2006 Jeff Pulver. All Rights Reserved.
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Posted by jeff on September 3, 2006 04:49 PM | Permalink

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Comments

I would say convergence will help people to stay
with a single number and use different networks

Initial steps will be enables laptops and mobile phones which support such technologies....

More will be coming in near future and leapfrogging is the word.....near future

Posted by: Manish at September 4, 2006 05:15 AM

While Less Maybe More, I'm still not convinced we are addressing the same issues. Many of the Wi-Fi/GSM phones that I've seen prior to the Nokia phones suffered in the form factor department.

While I agree that FMC would be a "nice to have", I'm not so sure that the most people understand or appreciate the underlying value proposition.

Posted by: Jeff Pulver at September 4, 2006 12:17 AM

Less is more.

People would like one phone. One phone number.

FMC would provide that in a starting way..

Posted by: Andy Abramson at September 4, 2006 12:06 AM