Qualcomm and Teleepoch Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October 6, 2007

MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6, 2007

Brazilian government to publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007

KTF 3G service suffers from technical problems, October 6, 2007

Argentina’s Personal lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007

Russia has it's first 3G network, October 6, 2007

AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007

Enea Extends License Agreement with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007

LG to unveil premium handsets in Brazil, October 2, 2007

KTF 3G subscribers doubled in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007

3G policy in India will be non-uniform, October 2, 2007

- previous news

VOIP wrecking WLAN-3G mobile convergence

February 16, 2005

There's a cold, hard inevitability about the convergence of WLAN and 3G mobile, but the business case that will drive this integration forward has split the wireless industry -- with VOIP the primary cause of the rift, according to a new report from the subscription research service Unstrung Insider.

The report, entitled Converge This! WLAN-3G Mobility, analyzes the business case, the service case, and the technical case (with reference to standards and handsets) for the integration of 802.11 wireless LAN with mobile network services.

"The major issue dominating the sector is how, and whether or not, VOIP calls over wireless LAN should be integrated into the mobile network call model," says the report's author, Unstrung Insider Chief Analyst Gabriel Brown. "Offloading calls to VOIP has its attractions, but operators are lukewarm on subsidizing handsets that could be used to bypass their networks."

The resolution of this issue is critical to the ongoing integration of multiple radio access networks, including WiMax, into a single converged core network. "Rather than straightforward VOIP offload, converged applications and rich-call services -- data services over an IMS core -- represent the best long-term opportunity for 802.11-to-3G convergence," adds Brown.

Among the report's key findings:

* Corporate VOIP is the major early application for converged mobile and WLAN services because operators and customers are comfortable with the business proposition.

* Fundamental business concerns will inhibit consumer/residential VOIP over converged 3G and WLAN devices; hotspot VOIP over converged devices is even more challenging.

* There's no evidence of an impending mobile capacity crunch; on the contrary, 3G carriers have Erlangs to spare.

* Texas Instruments and CSR have the most aggressive development schedules for mobile-device 802.11 chipsets and are poised to grab a lead in the market.

* We estimate 802.11 attach rate of between 8 percent and 10 percent in the mobile handset market by 2008 -- amounting to 64 to 80 million units per year -- although many vendors consider this optimistic.