UMA device rumor: Motorola Marco

It appears that we here at UMA Today have missed a rumored new device. Back in July, The Boy Genius Reports revealed a new device code named “Marco” which is apparently includes Wi-Fi and UMA.

We have heard internal rumors of such a device as well, but did not realize it had been outed through the blogsphere.

Will Marco make its commercial launch? Or is it destines to the same fate as the A910? Samsung and Nokia and many others continue to roll out new UMA devices, while Motorola is conspicuously absent from the party. Marco would definitely capture attention with operators like T-Mobile, Orange and Telia.

I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

A vision of convergence

Recently a very unique event took place. Four visionary leaders in UMA technology sat down with Ed Sperling, editor in chief of Electronic News, for a round table discussion about convergence, mobile/Wi-Fi services and UMA technology. In attendance were Muzibul Khan, VP of product management and engineering at Samsung; Ton van Kampen, VP of business development at NXP; Chris Caldwell, product development manager at T-Mobile, and Mark Powell, VP and founder of Kineto Wireless.

Take a moment to read the full article.

Wi-Fi phones don't have to be expensive

This week brought the announcement of the latest product from Nokia, the 6301, UMA-enabled dual-mode device. This is an update to the extremely popular 6300.

In the press release from Nokia, the 6301 has a suggested price of €230 before rebates/subsidies. Given the current exchange rate, a price of €230 gave me pause... ‘Uh oh, another expensive UMA device...”

That got me thinking, what is the premium to the 6301 (clearly it must be more expensive because it has Wi-Fi!) compared with the ‘classic’ 6300?

The internet is a wonderful place, and after a short search, I found an article which covered the launch of the 6300. Surprisingly enough, the suggested price of the 6300 at launch was €250. Hummm... Now I’m impressed.

Certainly time and volumes have helped to lower prices, but I must say I was quite surprised to find the original, non-Wi-Fi version was originally priced €20 higher than the new, UMA-enabled version.

Even more surprising was a quick check of the Orange.fr web site, which has the 6300 currently priced at €229 as part of a web special. Now I’m very impressed.

I’m not sure when the market will stop saying “Wi-Fi = expensive”. Of course, the iPhone doesn’t help, nor the fact that nearly every other Wi-Fi enabled device is at the high end of the spectrum. Perhaps we need a new campaign, if “Wi-Fi = expensive”, then “UMA = value”. UMA-enabled phones are not dramatically more expensive than any other device.

For those who click through on the article about the 6300, you’ll notice it was the same time Nokia introduced the 6086, it’s second UMA-enabled product. There is some irony.

FMC Fading?... Depends on the market

Last week Telecoms.com posted an article announcing that the “FMC hype is fading”. What they didn’t clarify in the title is that Yankee Group analyst Brian Kotlyar, who made the comment, was talking specifically about the enterprise.

For the enterprise: I agree. The hype around enterprise FMC is fading fast. That’s because enterprises and enterprise solution vendors alike are realizing that what enterprises really want from an FMC solution isn’t a PBX client on the phone, what they really want is the mobile to work better and cost less.

For regular readers of the blog, you will recall that all successful dual-mode handset services have been targeted at consumers. There has been talk about dual-mode services for the enterprise, but they have always missed the mark.

I was at lunch with a colleague the other day who works for an ‘enterprise’ solution provider. Being suppliers of FMC solutions to different markets (Kineto to mobile operators, my colleague to enterprises), we were able to compare notes.

The premise of the enterprise solution is that the enterprise FMC application is overlaid on top of a normal mobile/GSM phone service. There appear to be three basic benefits.

When in the enterprise, calls that come into the PBX are routed over Wi-Fi/VoIP to the handset. Thus employees are ‘mobile’ in the office. Second, when out of the office, calls to the PBX number are routed to the mobile so the employee is ‘always available’. I’m not sure that’s a benefit just yet, I get a lot of calls overnight to my desk number that I really don’t want ringing in my house in the middle of the night. Third, users have a corporate phone book with four digit dialing in the office or out.

While there were several things about their enterprise solution that struck me, two things really stood out:

First, when my colleague is out of the office in GSM, and a call comes into his desk number, the enterprise FMC controller has to hairpin that call out to the GSM network to ‘find’ the employee. The impact on the enterprise is high. Now a call to a PBX extension takes TWO trunk lines, one for the inbound call, one for the outbound call. Not exactly a ‘cost savings’ just yet.

Second, I noticed his phone was using the EDGE network to update/synchronize data with the server in the enterprise. I asked if he needed to get an unlimited data package on the phone. Yes, of course, but he already had the data package because the Nokia e61 he used was for email as well.

Again, I’m not sure where the savings is if an enterprise FMC solution requires users to get all you can eat data packages to enable the service.

It is said that only 20-30% of employees are mobile and have devices/service plans paid for by the enterprise. This is because they tend to be expensive devices (Nokia e61) which require expensive mobile plans (all you can eat data).

I thought the ‘target’ of enterprise FMC services was the ‘other’ 70%, people who could benefit from mobility in/around the office if it was more cost effective. But if the cost of unwiring the ‘other half’ includes the same expensive devices with the same expensive data plans, plus the added expense of an enterprise FMC controller and more PBX trunk lines, I’m not sure where the cost savings is going to come from to make it more affordable.

Analyst house the Yankee Group said this week that even though the publicity surrounding FMC is being succeeded by more recent developments, the technology still has strong potential to shake up the communications market for enterprise voice and mobility. But uptake will only be driven by shifting the focus to FMC's features, rather than its potential for cutting costs.

Focus on features rather than cost? To me, that sounds like trying to make the 20-30% of employees already with mobile service more productive, rather than trying to unwire the ‘other half’.

What would be a good way to get low cost, high performance wireless service to enterprise workers? Wait a minute, doesn’t T-Mobile offer ‘unlimited calling over Wi-Fi’ for just $10/month? But the phones, they must be expensive and costly, right? Well, the Nokia and Samsung handsets are $50 with a two year commitment. There must be an expensive calling packet required, right? No, the HotSpot @Home service is available as an add-on to any $40/month calling package.

Hummm... it looks like there already is a way to un-wire the ‘other half’ of enterprise workers.

Sprint likes femtocells - not really a surprise

As reported by Doug Mahoney with VON from a conference in Chicago, Sprint Director of Signaling and Control Technology Manish Mangal stated that the company favored femtocells over Voice over Wi-Fi solutions.

Well, that’s not a surprise at all. For a company like Sprint, the only viable option for voice over Wi-Fi is an approach similar to VCC. As readers of this blog know, I have nothing good to say about VCC.

It’s a train wreck: burdensome to the network, complex t to install, and still not a ratified standard.

VCC isn’t tightly integrated into the phone or network. It’s sort of a ‘loose coupling’ which results in a poor hand-over experience and a high impact on battery performance.

But most of all, VCC delivers a very poor, fragmented user experience. Because subscribers are served from a different core network depending on the RAN they are using, subscriber get different services. How do you explain to someone that their phone can’t download ringtones or send an MMS when on Wi-Fi, but they can when on the CDMA network?

Don't take my word for it, Manish says the same things below:

“We’ve been testing voice over Wi-Fi,” stated Mangal, “There’s lot of hurdles [in implementing it], and no benefits. “There are so many technical issues to make it work.” Problems including the failure of dual-mode devices to catch on in the U.S. “We’ve sold [dual-mode devices], customers aren’t buying them,” he said, deterred by higher price points. Most current wireless networks were deployed as data networks, and haven’t been optimized for voice, so upgrading is expensive. More management time and demands for longer battery life round out the set of problems VoWi-Fi users have listed.

If Sprint’s comments are any indication, our analysis of VCC continues to be dead on. It's funny, operators rolling UMA-based dual-mode services don't have these problems at all.

Orange UK targets teleworkers

As reported at Pocket-Lint, a UK based technology blog, Orange UK is making available a ‘comprehensive portfolio of solutions’ in a service called ‘Open Office’. The service takes advantage of Orange’s new Unique offer with a new a tariff bundle.

Orange continues to push Unique forward.

Orange launches "Open Office" for flexible workers

"Flexible solutions for forward-thinking firms"

by Amy-Mae Elliott

4 September 2007 12:15 GMT - Orange Business Services today announced the launch of Open Office, that they describe as a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to offer unrivalled choice and convenience for flexible workers.

With more and more people working from home with Open Office, Orange customers will be able to select from a range of "flexible working tools" that includes home broadband, dedicated tariff bundles.

The "Unique" UMA (Universal Mobile Access) phone service is also included, which allows customers to use a single handset for all their calls, whether at home over wi-fi or on the move using the Orange mobile network.

A range of mobile email platforms will also be offered, including BlackBerry and Microsoft, alongside the Orange Business Everywhere mobile laptop offering.

The dedicated tariff bundles will be available for the full portfolio of Orange business handsets. For those that opt for Unique, the service will be available with the BlackBerry 8820, the Nokia 6086 and the Samsung P260 from mid-September, with other devices available during the autumn.

A BIG week for a FEMTO standard

A little event occurred in Dublin this week that could have big implications for the Femtocell market…

As we all know, standardizing the interface between Femtocells and the core mobile network is one of the big challenges that must be met before the Femtocell market can really take off (see the UMA Today webinar or whitepaper for more info).

Well, at the 3GPP GERAN standards meeting in Dublin this week, a formal work item was started to add the necessary changes to UMA specifications to accommodate femtocells. With hard work and a small bit of luck, 3GPP could have the work completed by February of next year. This is key milestone.

I hope everyone at the meeting raised a glass of that classic Irish beverage and proposed a toast.

All dual-mode phones are NOT alike

A common misconception is that all dual-mode phones are the same. Many people consider Wi-Fi enabled phones to be expensive and have poor battery life.

I’d like to dispel this myth by making a distinction between UMA and non-UMA enabled devices. I concur that non-UMA dual-mode handsets are often higher end (and therefore more expensive) and have poor battery performance (when in Wi-Fi). However, UMA-enabled devices are often mid-tier feature phones with respectable if not ‘stellar’ battery performance.

Fundamentally, UMA is a technology for mobile operators. It is designed to make Wi-Fi (and IP and broadband) ‘friendly’ to the mobile operator. So, what is UMA’s secret?

When a UMA-enabled dual-mode phone enters a known Wi-Fi coverage area (home, office), the phone automatically and seamlessly switches from the GSM network to the Wi-Fi network. Now the connection between the phone and the mobile network is over the public internet rather than the GSM radio access network. Because it’s not used when the phone is in Wi-Fi coverage, the GSM radio is put into a sleep/hibernate mode.

If/when a call arrives for the handset, the call is routed through the UMA tunnel over the internet to the handset, and the GSM radio is not used.

This is one key element of improving battery performance in UMA-enabled handsets. By putting the GSM radio in a sleep mode, the phone continues to run a single radio. Anyone who has run their Bluetooth radio all day knows that having two radios on in a phone significantly impacts the battery performance.

Contrast this with the operation of a non-UMA dual-mode phone. As the phone enters a known Wi-Fi location, generally the user needs to turn on or enable the Wi-Fi radio. Primarily this is because the battery impact is so great that ‘automatic’ Wi-Fi usage would have the un-intended consequence of sucking the battery dry.

Now with the Wi-Fi radio is operating and associated with an access point. But to make or receive GSM calls, the GSM radio must remain on as well. In a non-UMA device, the only connection between the mobile core network and the handset is over the existing GSM link. In this case, Wi-Fi is simply a bolt-on to the phone’s primary function as a GSM communications device.

There are many implications of this ‘bolt on’ approach.

First, people with non-UMA devices don’t use the Wi-Fi connection much if at all. The performance hit to the handset is too great for regular usage. Certainly with iPhone, the largest selling dual-mode device on the market, most people tend to use the EDGE data connection rather than Wi-Fi.

Second, there is no session mobility for non-UMA devices. Start surfing on the Wi-Fi connection, and if you walk out the door to GSM, that connection is lost. Wi-Fi and GSM are typically completely different subsystems on a non-UMA device. Of course with UMA, there is full session mobility for voice, data and IMS applications between Wi-Fi and the GSM network.

Third, because Wi-Fi is typically bolted onto a non-UMA device for basic data services, the Wi-Fi sub-system is not optimized for a mobile device. This was a common problem for the first UMA-enabled handsets. The Wi-Fi subsystems were simply ported from laptops and behaved like they were running on (relatively) power in-sensitive devices like PCs rather than on handsets.

Companies like NXP have invested tremendous resources in optimizing Wi-Fi (radio, stacks) to be voice-centric rather than laptop/PC centric. This optimization has paid off well, as the performance of their t409 product achieves 8 hours of talk time in Wi-Fi, according to one analyst.

Many see dual-mode devices as the next growth opportunity for Wi-Fi. This is certainly true. But there is a big difference between non-UMA and UMA-enabled devices.

Linksys joins in UMA-enabled ATA market

As reported on-line by Engadget through FCC filing, Linksys has developed an analog terminal adaptor (ATA) based on UMA technology for T-Mobile US.

UMA is fundamentally about FMS and enabling the mobile operator to deliver services over the public internet. With this new Linksys product, T-Mobile is now able to offer a fixed line VoIP service in the home similar to what Vonage and others deliver.

Why would T-Mobile do this when they have a perfectly good dual-mode handset service already available? It’s one more tool to accelerate FMS. In our household, my wife doesn’t particularly like walking around with her mobile phone stuck to her ear. It puts a kink in her neck.

However, our larger Panasonic cordless/DECT phone, connected to the incumbent fixed line provider, is more ergonomically pleasing. The idea is that we would port our fixed line number to T-Mobile who would provide us the ATA, and our fixed services would come from T-Mobile over our existing broadband network. Now T-Mobile can capture our entire in home voice usage, from both mobiles as well as the fixed line, through this terminal adaptor.

This let's mobile operators offer a Vonage-like service.

Note that this joins the already available Motorola RSG-3500 available from the Connected Homes Group.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: UMA is really a ‘universal’ access technology for delivering any and all mobile services over IP; dual-mode phones, femtocells, terminal adaptors,... UMA let’s mobile operators harness the cost and performance advantages of IP to accelerate FMS.

Orange goes FREE

One of the anticipated dual-mode handset commercial launches is Orange in the UK. They have trialed the service for some time now. Things looked quite promising when two week ago Blackberry announced the first operator for the UMA-enabled 8820 was to be Orange UK.

But after checking the web site last week, it looks like Orange has some more tricks up its sleeve.

When subscribers sign up for the ‘Unique’ offer, they receive ‘unlimited’ calling to Orange UK mobiles as well as fixed lines in the UK. In addition, they receive ‘unlimited’ calling to fixed lines in 25 countries in Europe plus the US.

The best part is, this is all FREE with any service plan above £30.

Simply ‘purchase’ a Unique enabled phone (which is also FREE with an 18 mos service commitment), and Orange UK subscribers automatically get calls the Orange UK mobiles, UK fixed lines, and calls to fixed lines in 25 other countries for FREE.

How can that be?

Certainly it’s no secret that the UK has an incredible competitive mobile market. Churn is a costly issue. In all fairness, in the Orange UK T&Cs, ‘unlimited’ actually means ‘fair use’ which is defined as 1,000/month of UK calling and 1,000/month of international calling. Still, that’s quite a bit of calling for no charge.

One can image that the Orange team struggled with how to inspire the UK consumer with something new and Unique? It’s a crowded market, how does one win new subscribers and hold on to existing customers? FREE is a word that gets people’s attention.

At the end of the day, Orange is really looking to lock up subscribers between their mobile and broadband service. But offering these types of incentives, Orange is looking to convert (or sign up new) broadband subscribers.

The rumor is that Orange will start a marketing push after the summer.

Samsung brings another... the P260

Samsung has announced several new phones this week including the P260, called the replacement for the early P200. It is my understanding that this device is based on the highly optimized NXP 5210 platform. This is the platform in T-Mobile T409 device.

It looks like Samsung/NXP have a hit with this platform combo and they will be extending it into as many devices as possible.

Other specs for Samsung P260 slider include:

• 262K color 240×320 pixel display
• 2 megapixel camera
• 25MB internal and microSD memory card
• MP3/MPEG4 media player with flight mode
• Stereo Bluetooth and USB connectivity
• 960 mAh Lion batter with 3h talk and 220 h stand-by
• Dimensions: 101×50x17 mm
• Weight: 119g

Look for this device in Europe initially. There are rumors of a US version of this slider phone coming to T-Mobile as well.

EE Times on femtocells

This is a well done piece on femtocells by John Walko at EE Times.

Personally, I liked the fact that UMA was listed as one of three approaches for backhauling femtocells. The other two (Iu-B and SIP) are a struggle. For operators looking to trial in 2007 and deploy in 2008. UMA has many very clear advantages.

One odd comment in the article was...

“Femtocells represent the first real threat to the increasing dominance of Wi-Fi routers in the home...”

Given they operate at a frequency which is licensed, owned and managed, I’m not sure it’s really a ‘threat’ as much as a new way for mobile operators to use their spectrum. I think Bruno Dachary of Orange offers a different take:

"It is strange to hear people talking about femtocells as a consumer product similar to say a Wi-Fi router. This is not right… these are operator products as they use spectrum owned and managed by operators, and we will rent them to users to retain control," said Dachary.

There is a bit of foreshadowing in his comments. Also a vision that Wi-Fi and femtocells will be deployed and used different, perhaps side-by-side in the Orange network... Only time will tell.

Orange pulls the UMA RIM?

From the 'Mashup of Mayhem' blog in the UK:

Orange have announced that they will be launching the BlackBerry 8820 will be at the end of July which will replace the BlackBerry 8800 in Orange’s portfolio.

The 8820 is a revamped 8800 that offers all the functionality of the 8800 and combines it with UMA (The ability to use WiFi VoIP and Cellular in the same device). The 8820 therefor supports Orange’s Unique offering where home workers can roam onto Orange’s Unique VoIP service via the Internet through their Orange Broadband connection when in their home location.

Email on the go and UMA is a great feature, HP have combined the options in the iPAQ 514 Voice Communicator (still waiting HP!!) on the Windows Mobile 6 Platform so it’s good to see RIM following suite for those Blackberry users out there.

I'm not sure where Orange UK announced this, but if it's on a blog, it must be true. A quick check of the Orange UK/Unique site shows the Blackberry is not listed as a Unique phone yet, but perhaps it's on it's way.

And now that you mention it, where is that HP device? It's shaping up to be a good summer for UMA-enabled phones.

RIM’s new Wi-Fi Blackberry

doesn’t support UMA yet...

In a story from Reuters, RIM announced the new 8820, its new Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry, will be available initially to AT&T subscribers 'later this summer'.

It’s too much to ask for that the device would come out for T-Mobile/HotSpot@Home first. But now that I think about it, it is ‘too much to ask’. AT&T probably doesn’t have much in the way of Wi-Fi requirements, whereas T-Mobile does.

After studying what it takes to deliver services over Wi-Fi, T-Mobile likely has a pretty extensive set of requirements for the device to ensure seamless mobility, optimal performance and stellar battery life. One example, T-Mobile uses APSD (auto-power save delivery, part of 802.11e) technology between the access point and device to extend battery life.

Because AT&T doesn’t use Wi-Fi for mobile service delivery (ie no UMA), they are likely to be happy with any old Wi-Fi implementation. T-Mobile knows what it takes to deliver a Wi-Fi experience consumers want.

While I’m disappointed that the 8820 is going AT&T first, it completely makes sense. RIM needs to do it right for T-Mobile.

PS - don't worry, we know the UMA version is coming...

Comments on HotSpot@Home

From the SciFi Tech blog comes a compilation of comments on T-Mobile’s service. Should we be worried that UMA is covered as a topic in a “Science Fiction” blog? It’s clear that cellular/Wi-Fi is not sci-fi any more.

I wanted to offer up some comments on the reviews:

"Unfortunately, the service needs some ironing out. Say I walk into a Starbucks. If the cellular signal remains strong, it can take up to three minutes for my phone to switch to Wi-Fi and stop consuming my calling plan minutes. That's because, in an effort to save battery power, the phone sniffs around for Wi-Fi connections only every once in a while… I also dislike the available handsets." — Olga Kharif, BusinessWeek

As Olga freely points out, there is a trade-off: save battery life, or save a minute of a phone call. Apparently when T-Mobile decided to save on battery, the result is a service that needs ‘ironing out’. Another reviewer called the battery performance on the t409 "absolutely stellar". Oddly enough, over the past years, the primary complaint about GSM/Wi-Fi devices is battery life.

PS - Billing doesn't change when you walk into (or out of) a hotspot. The call is billed at the start rate (cellular or Wi-Fi), regardless of where it finishes.

"Calls over the Wi-Fi network sounded exactly the same as GSM calls. True to their word, we [sic] didn't notice that our phone had switched from one to the other, except in one rare circumstance…. It isn't hard to find cell-phone users who have problems with reception, even in their own homes. With HotSpot@Home, not only is reception no longer a significant issue at home, with Wi-Fi networks at work and wherever users frequent, the service offers customers more control." — editors, infoSync World

"Call quality was nothing extraordinary…. Overall, we're very pleased with the service. The GSM/Wi-Fi transition could be a lot smoother, and we wish that we could actually use the Wi-Fi to surf the Web (Web surfing is unfortunately stuck to EDGE speeds — a bummer)." — Nicole Lee, CNet

There is a common misconception here. When on Wi-Fi/UMA, using packet services, all the traffic goes through the EDGE/GRPS engine on the phone and in the network. So for now it looks like all packet data traffic goes through EDGE. It doesn’t, and with faster phones it will become clear this is a broadband experience.

"One benefit, which I didn't expect, was that calls made over Wi-Fi actually sounded clearer than those made using the cellular network…. The hype over the iPhone certainly drowned out T-Mobile's launch of HotSpot@Home, which was too bad. T-Mobile's new service is a revolutionary in its scope. — Gary Krakow, MSNBC.com

Calls sound clearer because they get onto the wired network faster, meaning less packet loss. I also believe is it “revolutionary in it’s scope.”

"[The two phones] sound terrific; over Wi-Fi, in fact, they produce the best-sounding cell-phone calls you've ever made. But the screens are small and coarse, and the features limited…. T-Mobile has found a way to embrace and exploit [Wi-Fi] to everyone's benefit. The result is a smartly implemented, technologically polished, incredibly inexpensive way to make over your phone lifestyle. — David Pogue, The New York Times

"...the best-sounding cell-phone calls you've ever made." Now that's a quote!

"My tests with this wireless network and its companion mobile phone were so underwhelming — when it worked — that I'd suggest anyone with even the tiniest bit of tech savvy wait for something better." — Eric Benderoff, The Chicago Tribune

"The switch from Wi-Fi mode to cell-phone mode mid call is so smooth, it's shocking that this technology really works. If my cell-phone coverage at home was terrible, I'd say sign me up! The limited selection of phones is a major drawback. I can't imagine going back to a boring phone like the Samsung I tested." — Tamara Chuang, The Orange County Register

I’m not sure how Eric at the Trib and Tamara at the OC could have such different experiences. Perhaps Eric was under-whelmed for the same reason Tamara was 'shocked'. It just works. Frankly, I can see how both sides of the coin apply. The key (and frankly boring) advantage of HotSpot@Home is that nothing dramatic happens. Seamless mobility means calls just switches networks, it’s boring. That's UMA, it's boring because it works.

"The big beneficiaries of this service will be International travelers. You can carry the phone with you, say to Rome. The phone will connect to a Wi-Fi network, and allow you to call home as if you were calling locally. The bad news is that if you have to call someone in Rome, then it becomes an international call." — Om Malik, GigaOm

Here’s another ‘it’s so good it’s bad’ comment. Yes, when you’re in Rome with a US phone and you need to call someone in Rome, it’s an international call. But that’s how your mobile phone works today. So that’s the ‘bad news’. Of course the good news is anyone you call in the US is still a local call, and when someone calls you from the US you pay US local rates. I think it makes things better.

"The promise of WiFi phones are great — bypass the slow cell-phone networks when you are near a Wi-Fi hotspot. But the realities of wireless computer networking — with closed networks, firewalls, and other incompatibilities — make them hard enough to log onto with a laptop, never mind a phone." — Eric Schonfeld, Business 2.0

From this review, I’m not sure if Eric got a phone to trial. The service is called HotSpot “@Home”. It’s not for attaching to any and all random Wi-Fi access points in the world. It’s for your home network. From the reviews above, apparently it is pretty easy to log in with a phone, let alone a laptop.

"I've been using T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home from Poland this week and I can honestly say that the service is a lifesaver if you're a frequent pond-hopper." — John Biggs, CrunchGear

Excellent news. T-Mobile did a great job keeping the service simple, unlimited calls over any Wi-Fi from anywhere in the world for just $10/month. No wonder the comments are good.

The Femtocell Conference

Avren, a boutique conference firm, hit a home run July 3-5 with the industry’s first femtocell event. Adding to the allure was the inaugural meeting of the new Femto Forum which resulted in a staggering 240 attendees all crammed into a hotel ball room at Heathrow to hear about femtocells.

I wanted to offer a couple of thoughts that we picked up from the event:

- The operators have consolidated around a 'RAN gateway' approach.

Early on there was talk of potentially using Iu-b or even SIP, but those have been largely dismissed by the operators. All major operators and vendors (NSN, Alcalu, Motorola, NEC, Ericsson) have proposed a RAN gateway (like a UNC) solution that provides an Iu connection to the mobile core.

This approach is low impact to the core and ensures full service transparency (all GSM/3G services are delivered over the femtocell), the same reasons why UMA defined a RAN gateway approach 2+ years ago. What's interesting is that rather than rallying around UMA, vendors are each defining their own proprietary approaches. Motorola and NEC are following the UMA path.

- Operators are *insisting* on an open interface

This makes sense. They want a robust, competitive market for femtocells, with many suppliers delivering products that meet a single, standardized interface. This achieves the economies of scale for femto manufacturers to drive costs down. Of course, UMA is already an open/published specification. NSN took the unusual step of stating they will publish their ‘vendor specific’ protocol for other femto vendors to build too. I’m sure the other vendors (ip.Access, Ericsson, Alcalu, NEC, Motorola, ...) can’t wait to build a femto that conforms to the Nokia/Siemens specification (or vice versa).

- The hype is high, but reality is starting to set in.

It was clear from the tone of the operators that femtocells are an exciting opportunity. But all realize there is a LOT of work to be done before the promise/hype meets up with the shelves of consumer electronics stores.

- A word on UMA

In all of this, UMA continues to be the only published, industry recognized standard for femtocell backhaul. The minor work to extend the current UMA specification to support Iu was kicked off in Oct 06 at the 3GPP.

Through its work with Dual-Mode Handsets, UMA already has the ability to integrate millions of devices into the mobile core, has the access control mechanisms to support consumer grade products, and a robust handover procedure. These capabilities are yet to be defined by the vendors scrambling to come up with their own RAN gateway protocols. UMA is the standardized RAN gateway approach.

Two other things UMA has going for it versus these ‘vendor specific’ approaches. One is that UMA supports dual-mode handset services as well as femtocells. While an operator may not be interested in a DMH service today, the future protection offered by a UMA infrastructure, with no price premium (UNCs are already deployed in volume around the world for DMH), is very compelling.

Second is that UMA supports 2G femtocells as well as 3G femtocells. If an operator is going to deploy a ‘combo’ AP, or is interested in 2G femtos, UMA is the only choice.

All in all, UMA is really proving why it is known as ‘GAN’, it is a generic access network technology, easily adaptable to new applications.

I want my UMA!!!

But frankly, I couldn’t get it. They had sold out!

I went to my local T-Mobile store at noon on Wednesday. It was festive with balloons and all. You can see me with Jessica the helpful sales associate.

Jessica walked us to the HotSpot@Home display and showed us the phones and Wi-Fi routers.

We talked about the advantages and benefits. One thing T-Mobile certainly did right was to make this a feature which can be added to any other service plan.

There is no new ‘HotSpot@Home’ service plan. You can add @Home to any regular T-Mobile plan. Already have a "MyFaves" plan? Just add HotSpot@Home and get unlimited calling for $10/month. That's a great deal.

One other feature of @Home is improved coverage indoors. Buy a UMA-enabled HotSpot@Home phone to go with your existing calling plan and the Wi-Fi in your house improves coverage. You don't need the $10 package for this, just a dual-mode phone.

It’s such a great deal that our local store had already sold out their inventory of phones in just 2 hours!

Good luck trying to beat that, iPhone! (actually, it’s impossible. Apple probably made 5 million iPhones, and just selling that many in 2 hours is physically impossible...)

Anyhow, the word is out. I want my UMA! But apparently I’ll have to wait until a new shipment of phones comes in on Friday. That’s definitely a good sign.

EDGE/GPRS support on HotSpot@Home

There have been a couple reports about T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home service supporting data services through EDGE/GRPS only.

Those reports are WRONG!

What is being reported is that a “G” indicator on the display screen of the Nokia phone comes up when surfing/access packet services through UMA/Wi-Fi.

This actually means that the GRPS engine is being used, not that the GPRS/EGDE radio is being used. UMA is actually transporting the GRPS packet session over Wi-Fi.

This is actually the key advantage of UMA for packet services. If you start a data/packet session in UMA/Wi-Fi and then walk out the front door, that session will continue on the EDGE/GPRS network.

T-Mobile Launches!

And the stories are flooding in...

- T-Mobile’s press release

- Samsung’s t409 handset press release

- A great article from Business week

- Solid coverage from the Associated Press

- A good piece from Network World

And PhoneScoop video coverage, but why does the Nokia phone indicate EDGE for data services? Don't believe it, it's using Wi-Fi!

So, are you going to a T-Mobile store and getting your HotSpot@Home service today?

VCC is (still) for fixed line operators

NXTComm, the former “Supercomm” tradeshow geared towards fixed line operators in the US, wrapped up last week in Chicago. Frankly the VCC world has been pretty quiet of late, but there were three VCC related announcements at NXTComm:

• Aepona is aiming its Voice Call Continuity (VCC) product for service provider OSS and BSS back-office systems integration, offering scalability, service interaction and intelligent rating and charging.

• NewStep Networks and fg microtec, announced that their joint efforts to enable Nokia handsets to interoperate with multimedia applications for 2.5G, 3G and WLAN mobile phones, has led to field trials with major service providers. NewStep also announced that is had completed interoperability certification for Paragon’s latest GSM/VoWLAN dual-mode handset.

• Aricent launched the company’s first VCC server solution, the Aricent Service Continuity Server (SCS).

I guess companies were saving up the news for a fixed-line tradeshow. This just serves to reinforce the message: VCC is a technology for fixed operators.