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Is UMA the Answer for Convergence?
Frost & Sullivan, Jan 2006
UMA Emerges as a Convergence Transition Technology from 2G to IMS whereas Service Providers Consider IMS as End Game
With the aid of fixed mobile convergence (FMC), mobile carriers with wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)-based services can continue their fixed-to-mobile substitution. This arrangement enables users to connect to Wi-Fi networks as well as solves poor indoor coverage issues and mobile carriers for their part can charge less compared to mobile voice calls. Fixed providers can reduce substitution by enabling users to connect to public hotspots on a dual-mode client device, thereby overcoming the mobility factor. Mobile carriers' concerns that FMC may affect their voice revenues have forced them to opt for a solution based on the unlicensed mobile access (UMA) technology. Fixed-line providers, on the other hand, have opted for a non-UMA, IP for multimedia subsystems (IMS) session initiation protocol (SIP)-centric approach. This ensures that voice and data applications can run on IP rather than be locked onto the mobile carriers’ legacy networks.
This Frost & Sullivan research service discusses issues pertaining to FMC and compares UMA with IMS SIP. Moreover, this study keenly considers the 22 attributes needed for FMC and offers an analysis based on the intense scrutiny of these factors.
Additional Information
A Comparison of the Benefits of UMA versus those of IMS SIP Elaborates the Benefits of the Former Technology
"UMA is a legacy-based solution for service providers of global system for mobile communications (GSM) and creates a back tunnel to applications that are running on their core network," explains the analyst of this study. "This hinders the significance of having dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets to offer cheap calls using the Internet."
Although using UMA dual-mode handsets in connecting to a Wi-Fi network offers users a differentiated service, it would not attract customers if it was not cheaper than a mobile call. Enterprises have always preferred to bypass the mobile network and reduce costs by connecting converged Wi-Fi/cellular client devices to their corporate wireless local area network (WLAN). On the other hand, the IMS SIP-centric approach provided by many participants leverages the IMS SIP principal of separating control and media. This means that the voice media does not have to be hair-pinned between the enterprise and carrier networks, thus eliminating costly access capacity.
IMS SIP-based Applications and Other Nascent Technologies are Likely to Pose a Threat to UMA
For incumbent mobile operators that are not keen on subsidising converged Wi-Fi/cellular devices due to fears that VoIP would cannibalise their revenues, UMA is the preferred option as it enables full control over Wi-Fi or cellular network traffic. However, mobile operators' control over the mobile market is diminishing with the emergence of new technologies and IMS applications. These pose a threat as they enable new market entrants such as wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) to target a previously untapped segment or one that proved difficult for mobile operators competitively.
"Mobile carriers are expecting a smooth transition to IMS SIP-based solutions that is expected to drive the introduction of new data services since the average revenue per user (ARPU) for voice applications is on the decline," according to the analyst. "SIP permits convergence, is compatible with 3G and provides flexibility for developing various solutions for enterprises and for these reasons, IMS SIP-based solutions are likely to take over where UMA left off."
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