Insight Reports on FMC

BOONTON, N.J. -- The fixed line phone, long a fixture in 95 percent of US homes and offices, is about to be replaced by new smart phone technology capable of working as reliably as a fixed line phone in the home or office and of converting to a cellular phone for mobile calling, says a new study from Insight Research. According to the new market research report, Fixed Mobile Convergence: Single Phone Solutions for Wireless, Wireline, and VoIP Convergence 2005-2010, this new generation of phones will leverage WiFi hotspots, voice over IP (VoIP) technology, and voice over wireless local area networks (VoWLANs) to create a single smart phone capable of moving from home to office and back again.

Insight posits four different consumer and enterprise adoption scenarios for fixed mobile convergence, including: the substitution of cellular usage for landline usage; the use of a dual-mode handset to carry VoIP on a wireless local area network (VoWLAN) inside the home or office, combined with cellular service for other locations; the integration of DSL or cable modem service with a VoWLAN in the home, in addition to a cellular mobile service outside the home; and a fixed cellular technology that employs special equipment to emulate a fixed phone using cellular technology.

"The dynamic is unmistakable: fixed lines for phones have been declining at a three-percent rate for the last several years, while the number of Americans opting for cell phone calling keeps increasing," says Insight president Robert Rosenberg. "If you are a fixed line provider this trend means trouble. Many of the fixed mobile convergence strategies under consideration end up utilizing a smart phone or dual-mode VoWLAN/Cellular phone that works like a landline phone in the local area and then converts to cell phone calling."

Fixed Mobile Convergence: Single Phone Solutions for Wireless, Wireline, and VoIP Convergence 2005-2010 evaluates the fixed mobile convergence market and segments it by fixed line broadband subscriber and revenue growth, VoIP subscriber and revenue growth, and access line loss. Cell phone usage and demographics, subscribers, dual-mode VoWLAN/Cellular users, and "cellular only" households and subscribers are also provided.

Insight Research Corp.