Nokia UMA

Carlo at MobHappy discusses Nokia's push for UMA.

From the post:

"There’s little doubt that UMA will be a disruptive force in the mobile telecom industry. It promises to meld the benefits of fixed or PC-based VoIP with those of mobile telephony. But why it’s so compelling for Nokia is that it gives them an opportunity to expand their pool of customers beyond just mobile operators. Sure, they go on about how mobile operators can leverage all their assets and plenty of other buzzphrases, saying UMA lets them boost network coverage and reduce costs as well as introduce new services. But it also gives plenty of companies that want to get into the mobile space a foothold — companies like cable operators, fixed-line companies, even strong Internet brands.

For someone like a cable operator, an MVNO using its own networks for UMA backhaul is a pretty compelling proposition. A fixed operator can offer a similar network, and for a diversified telecoms company, like France Telecom — say with its Wanadoo ISP and Orange mobile network in the UK — it makes even more sense. The telecoms infrastructure market is slowly melding fixed and mobile; for consumers this mix will happen even more quickly. By seizing on UMA, Nokia can expand outside its traditional networks sales area, and grow its carrier customer base."