[CAnet - news] Structural separation on cellular networks?

For more information on this item please visit my blog at 
http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/
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[To date cellular networks architectures can be characterized a vertical
silos where there is very strong coupling between the network architecture
and services.  3G systems today are the quintessential example of "walled
gardens". However, slowly we are starting to see some chinks in that armour
with the new cell phones that integrate WiFi and 3G, and new services such
as FON, Muni Wifi and pico GSM.  This will gradually enable the structural
separation of the network from services which  in my opinion, will be the
defining characteristic of 4G systems. This structure separation will enable
explosion of new wireless services and applications, similar to what we saw
happen with the Internet. The Internet was the first network architecture
that achieved separated the network and applications from the underlying
infrastructure.  You would think there would be a lesson here. But despite
the evidence and data from financial analysts and economists the telcom
industry still seems to be wedded to the traditional vertical silo model
with such technologies as IMS, IPsphere and NGN. Some excerpts from Om Malik
column-- BSA]


http://gigaom.com/2007/03/06/bt-to-invest-in-fon/


BT to Invest in FON?


FON, the Spanish share-your-Wi-Fi services company, is close to announcing a
new round of funding that could total to as much as 10 million Euros (shade
over $13 million.)

While some of its existing investors - Index Ventures, Skype and Google -
are coming back with more cash, the word from telecom circles in Europe is
that British Telecom is going to invest in the wireless router company. 

FON is the latest start-up by Spanish telecom entrepreneur, Martin
Varsavsky, who has made a name for being a thorn in the side of incumbents.
When I visited BT last summer while reporting a story for Business 2.0, the
senior management of the British incumbent carrier was pretty bullish on the
whole notion of dual-mode phones and municipal wireless. 

Dual-mode phones are phone that have Wi-Fi and cellular capabilities in one
single handset, and in an ideal world there is a seamless handoff between
the two networks once you are in range of a Wi-Fi network

While this does seem like a distant dream, eventually it will happen. Nokia,
for instance, is pretty confident that most of its mobile phones in the near
future will have Wi-Fi capabilities built into them. BT can offer voice (and
other services) over Wi-Fi when in range of a FON node, and when out of
range it can switch to the Vodafone network for cellular access.

T-Mobile USA is trying something similar up in the U.S. Northwest, though it
is through a customer's own Wi-Fi network. Free.fr of France has also been
playing with a similar idea and has bundled FON-like software in its
residential gateways.



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These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.

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