BT won't need MVNO deals for enterprise FMC
BT Global Services will not need to be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to offer fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services to corporate customers internationally, though it still needs to decide how to address CDMA due to its lack of SIM cards.
BT Group Plc launched a consumer FMC offering in the UK in June last year. The BT Fusion services uses Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology to tunnel GSM traffic, via a Bluetooth connection, over a DSL link in the subscriber's home and charges for it at fixed-line rates. Meanwhile traffic when the person is out and about goes over a regular mobile network, for which reason BT is an MVNO on Vodafone UK.
At the beginning of this year BT Spain announced intentions to launch a Fusion service in that country for the SMB market, adding that it would look at all the country's mobile operators as potential partners for an MVNO deal. And in February Marc Patterson, VP and general manager of mobile data services at BTGS's US arm, BT Infonet, said the company was considering how it would address the enterprise mobility challenge in North America, admitting even WiMAX as a possible alternative.
However, Rakesh Mahajan, director of mobility at the UK incumbent's business services arm, said its plans for the Corporate Fusion service, as it is called, will not entail any MVNO deals. A company's employees will be able to use their regular SIM cards, whether from their personal accounts or a corporate mobile provider, and will slot them into special dual-mode handsets from BT to take part in the FMC service, he explained.
The consumer Fusion service launched with Motorola handsets fitted with a special UMA client, but the Corporate version won't use UMA. Instead, the dual-mode phones will have a SIP client to enable VoWLAN when the employee is on corporate premises, the traffic reverting to the normal mobile network when off-site.
There will be two flavours of Corporate Fusion,
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datamonitor.com
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