While there may be some who think Fixed Mobile Convergence is dead, clearly someone in Belgium doesn't. TechCrunch Robin Wauters reports on Cherry, a new company that is promising to deliver Fixed Mobile Convergence, meaning GSM and WiFi, with Voice Call Continuity at the base of it.
Now, some points that need to be added:
1) Counterpath now holds the intellectual property (i.e. Patents and Patents Pending) for what was BridgePort Networks, the originators of Voice Call Continuity.
2) Another company, Outsmart Telecom, out of Israel, has similar technology that makes this work also.
3) Cicero Networks out of Ireland is a third company that played in the Voice Call Continuity and FMC space.
Each had or has struggled to get operators to roll out the FMC/VCC concept in mass, and the only two successful deployments of major note beyond one deployment by Bridgeport in the Balkans, was UMA offered by T-Mobile and Orange's UNYK in France and possibly the UK.
The play that Cherry is making is based upon IMS and SIP, leveraging a mobile network operator for GSM calls. Currently they are supporting Symbian powered Nokia E series devices, and plan to have the service work on Windows Mobile, Android and of course the iPhone.
P.S. I should also point out (thanks to Pat Phalen) that Agito Networks is also in the FMC space, but focused on a market that can make money sooner. The Enterprise space.
Calypso Wireless, Inc hold a patent in this space Patent 6.680.923, which has been granted in the US, Mexico, and 27 European countries. They currently have a patent infringment case against T-Mobile. Kineto Wireless is in this space also, they are selling their product to T-Mobile and Rodgers Communications. They have several large partners/investors backing them.
Posted by: FMCtoday | August 06, 2009 at 04:22 PM