| Can CVS save the landline phone? |
Aug. 24, 2007
A third of U.S. households will migrate to mobile-only phone services by 2011, resulting in an annual loss of $13 billion in fixed-line voice revenues to wireless substitutions, In-Stat forecasts. However, technologies are available to create next-generation "converged voice services" (CVS) that can breathe new life into fixed-line networks, the market research firm suggests.
In-Stat claims that by leveraging and integrating fixed-lines with the aid of CVS technologies, operators could avoid this attrition. CVS, the analyst firm explains, combines existing mobile and VoIP services with "a common set of network features and functions supported by the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or more specifically, by a Service Delivery Platform (SDP)."
Although not defined in the abstract to In-Stat's report, SDPs are generally understood to be software technologies that integrate older infrastructure into the "new world order." Sample functionality might be:- Users seeing incoming wireline and wireless calls on the screen of their TV
- Video on Demand (VOD) being available on both a mobile phone and a home computer, as part of a package.
- IP telephony across both wired and wireless networks
- Users receiving IM from buddies and being aware of their locations via GPS
In-Stat analyst Keith Nissen stated, "consumers want convenience, simplicity, and value. CVS allows [them] to decide which type of voice services (mobile-only, fixed-only, or integrated mobile/fixed) best fit their lifestyles."
Microsoft's Connected Services Framework is one player in this field. Other key Microsoft elements, according to a keynote delivered earlier this year by Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, are platforms such as Windows Mobile, tools such as .NET and Visual Studio, and various services built with the tools to run on the platforms.
The SDP market is by no means dominated by any single vendor, however. In addition to Microsoft, In-Stat's report, entitled "SDP-Enabled Converged Voice Services: The IMS Killer App," profiles 19 other players: Accenture, Aepona, Alcatel-Lucent, BEA Systems, Cisco, Comverse, Ericsson, HP, IBM, Metaswitch, Motorola/Leapstone, NEC, Nokia-Siemens, Oracle, RedKnee, Telcordia, Telenity, and Ubiquity/Avaya.
In-Stat's new report is available for purchase for $3,495.
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