Technological convergence

Technological convergence is the modern presence of a vast array of different types of technology to perform very similar tasks.

The term convergence is commonly used in reference to the synergistic combination of voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video onto a single network. These previously separate technologies are now able to share resources and interact with each other creating new efficiencies.

Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. This could be a prelude to artificial intelligence networks on the internet and eventually to Technological singularity.

Technological Convergence can also refer to the phenomena of a group of technologies developed for one use being utilized in many different contexts. This often happens to military technology as well as most types of machine tools and now silicon chips.

During the late 1800s, the machine tool industry was developed for use in armories, and then was expanded to form the basis of the American Industrial Revolution. For example, the same machines that Colt used to manufacture the first mass-produced guns were also used to make the first sewing machines in factories in America and, slightly later, the Coventry Sewing Machine Company made the first British bicycles.

Convergence in the media

Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one product with the advantages of all of them. See Concentration of media ownership for the similar sounding phrase of media convergence.

For example, the PlayStation 2 is not only a games console, but also a CD player, DVD player and Internet connector. Mobile phones are another good example, in that they increasingly incorporate digital cameras, mp3 players, camcorders, voice recorders, and other devices.

This type of convergence is very popular. For the consumer it means more features in less space, while for the media conglomerates it means remaining competitive in the struggle for market dominance. The announcement of a new cell phone that incorporates iTunes music songs is an example of media convergence in consumer electronics.

However, convergence can have its downside. Particularly in their initial forms, converged devices are frequently less functional and reliable than their component parts (e.g. a DVD may perform better on a traditional DVD player than on a games console). Further, as single devices address a wide spectrum of consumer needs, breakdowns and problems become more likely, and more disruptive to the consumer. The greater the degree of convergence in a device, the more vulnerable consumers are to the failure of that device and face more complex user-interfaces. With a multitool on your belt, you've always got a screwdriver and pliers, but they are never as good as separate tools.

Regardless, an ever-wider range of technologies are being converged into single multipurpose devices.

Since technology has evolved in the past ten years or so, companies are beginning to converge technologies to create demand for new products. This would include phone companies integrating 3G on their phones. Television in the mid 20th century converged the technologies of movies and radio, and is now being converged with the mobile phone industry. Phone calls are also being made with the use of personal computers. Converging technologies seems to be squashing many types of demanded technologies into one. Mobile phones are becoming manufactured to not only carry out phone calls, text messages, but also hold images, videos, music, television, camera, and multimedia of all types. A notable example of technological convergences is the iPhone.

Multi-play

Multi-play is a marketing term describing the provision of different telecommunication services, such as Broadband Internet access, television, telephone, and mobile phone service, by organisations that traditionally only offered one or two of these services. Multi-play is a catch-all phrase; usually, the terms triple play or quadruple play are used to describe a more specific meaning.

A dual play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of the two services: it can be high-speed Internet (ADSL) and telephone service over a single broadband connection in the case of phone companies, or high-speed Internet (cablemodem) and TV service over a single broadband connection in the case of cable TV companies.

The convergence can also concern the underlying communication infrastructure. An example of this is a triple play service, where communication services are packaged allowing consumers to purchase TV, internet and telephony in one subscription.

A quadruple play service combines the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television and telephone with wireless service provisions. This service set is also sometimes humorously referred to as "The Fantastic Four".

The broadband cable market is transforming as pay-TV providers move aggressively into what was once considered the telco space. Meanwhile, customer expectations have risen as consumer and business customers alike seek rich content, multi-use devices, networked products and converged services including on-demand video, digital TV, high speed Internet, VoIP and wireless applications. It's uncharted territory for most broadband companies.

Incidentally, the "mobile service provisions" aspect refers not only to the ability of subscribers to be able to purchase mobile phone like services as is often seen in co-marketing efforts between providers of land-line services. Rather it is one major ambition of wireless - the ability to have access to all of the above including voice, internet, and content/video while on the go and requiring no tethering to the network via cables.

Given advancements in WiMAX and other leading edge technologies, the ability to transfer information over a wireless link at combinations of speeds, distances and non line of sight conditions is rapidly improving. It is possible that one could never need to be connected by a wire to anything, even while at home.

One fundamental aspect of the quadruple play is not only the long awaited broadband convergence but also the players involved. Many of them, from the largest global service providers to whom we connect today via wires and cables to the smallest of startup service providers are interested. The opportunities are attractive: the big three telecom services - telephony, cable television and wireless - could combine the size of their respective industries.

The next level of service might be the integration of RFID into the quadruple play which will add the capability for home equipment to communicate to the outside world and schedule maintenance on its own.

In the UK, the recent merger of NTL:Telewest and Virgin Mobile resulted in a company offering a quadruple play of Cable Television, Broadband Internet, Home Telephone and Mobile Telephones.

Fixed Mobile Convergence

A clear trend is emerging in the form of fixed and mobile telephony convergence (FMC). The aim is to provide both services with a single phone, which could switch between networks ad hoc.

Typically, these services rely on Dual Mode Handsets, where the customers' mobile terminal can support both the wide-area (cellular) access and the local-area technology. Historically (see below) DECT and Bluetooth have been used locally, although there is a clear trend towards WiFi.

One example of this convergence is the BT Fusion offer in UK, where British Telecom offers a Vodafone handset capable of making calls through the ADSL line via a local wireless connection (in trials and early launch this was bluetooth but the product is now transitioning to using WiFi.

Other examples are provided in France with wifi connectivity around the base station, by the BeautifulPhone from neuf cegetel by the means of a QTek 8300 or Home Zone from Wanadoo with a Nokia handset. Free (French ISP) develops a wifi mesh network of HD freeboxes to be used to provide mobile telephony and compete with traditional cellular operators.

The Generic Access Network (or GAN) is a standard roaming system between WLANs and WWANs. Among the first handsets capable of this switching are the Nokia E series, which will be used by the British operator Truphone starting its service in may 2006. . GAN is the name formally used by 3GPP but the technology is also known as UMA and was first developed by Kineto.

At the end of the nineties, some dual mode DECT/GAP and GSM services were envisionned. In the UK, BT Cellnet launched its OnePhone offer in 1999. Ericsson and Sagem have produced a few handset models, and Ascom resold some Ericsson units. Those offers have not taken any sufficient ground and have been stopped.

Six companies, British Telecom, NTT, Rogers Wireless, Brasil Telecom, Korea Telecom and Swisscom have formed the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance (which as of January 2007 has 26 members) with the purpose to encourage the seamless integration of mobile and fixed-line telephone services.

An alternative approach to achieve similar benefits is that of femtocells

See also

• Next Generation Networks
• History of disruptive technology within communications
• Technological singularity
• Voice over IP

External links

• Convergence
• Digital Convergence Initiative
• Convergence Switching Architecture
• FMC Business News