Sometimes it seems fixed/mobile convergence is moving at a snail’s pace—and not for lack of interest among potential customers. There are many factors that contribute to its slow progress, from confusion over which network technology to use to the availability of enough dual-mode devices, but the operational and business support issues inherent in launching such a fundamentally new service can’t be overlooked. In fact, it could be said that a carrier’s OSS/BSS functions in support of FMC open them to world of new applications that lie beyond the gates of convergence.

"In a fragmented BSS/OSS environment, launching converged services that provide access from any device, across any network, to any application or content in a very quick time to market and with a seamless customer experience is paramount to operators," said Steve Waldis, president and CEO of Synchronoss Technologies.

The vendor of transaction management software felt that more communication between the convergence service providers and other involved firms could help, so it recently hosted what it called an “FMC industry retreat” as part of an effort to establish an FMC forum for discussion of the relevant operations support system/business support system issues. That retreat was attended by service providers such as EarthLink, Sprint and others, and even companies such as CBS Marketwatch, which could benefit from more advanced video and data-based forms of FMC that have yet to be realized.

Among the consensus understandings that came out of the retreat, companies agreed that service providers are continuing to launch siloed services even in the age of bundled triple-play offerings, and that they must fully integrate the delivery, activation, fulfillment and invoicing of these service to attain their full benefits. Also, service providers will need to embrace symbiotic relationships with OEMs—and digital content providers including Web 2.0 applications—to deliver FMC services for high-quality customer experiences. Such relationships are not yet evident in a world where carriers’ FMC ambitions are still limited to voice roaming services.

Attendees also agreed that service providers need to develop universal orchestration and customer care centers to manage the various elements of delivering converged services.

"The convergence of fixed and mobile communication networks creates a platform or gateway to enable a wide variety of innovative services across video, wireless and high speed access networks," said Mark Winther, group vice president and general manager of worldwide telecommunications for IDC. "[Convergence service providers] that are able to bridge the different and disparate elements of the networks while offering a superior customer experience will have a competitive edge in the race for the digital home."