Beyond 3G (Score 2, Informative)

The industry has been planning this for at least 5 years if not longer - most of the big technology companies and operators are working on network integration where the particular wireless access method is interchangeable. There are a vareity of business models, the primary one is the operator owns or leases access on GSM, 3G, DVB, DAB, WLAN networks and uses them to provide a range of multimedia services. Using a network management system they can move traffic between radio access systems to optimise bandwidth use. Another company peddling this technology is Calypso (http://www.calypsowireless.com).Nokia will bring out dual mode phones at the end of the year.The EC is funding a whole raft of project sin this area too. I have been working on a project to allow and exploit simultaneous use of multiple standards from one device (e.g. car, phone, laptop, home) (FLOWS) This would allow not only seamless hand over, but switching of part of the communication onto differetn wireles system as conditions change. However the whole vision is a bit of an engineers dream: fixed line firms see it as a way into wireless market, individuals with WiFi base stations will want to use them for V0IP, MVNOs and third party service providers will increasingly push voice to a commodity business. WLAN has a strong trajectory of its own outside the convergence telcom path. There are definite US -Europe - Japan - China - rest of the world differences in how it will be implemented too.