10 mobile trends: Should you care?

On the verge of this year's big 3GSM show in Barcelona, silicon.com's Jo Best looks at 10 oft-debated areas in mobile and wireless and asks a simple question: how much should you care over the next 12 months?

1. FMC

Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) to many is synonymous with dual-mode handsets. However, it's a broad church and for the purposes of this section, FMC means the converging functionality between desk phones and mobiles rather than converged handsets providing both fixed and mobile capability. Dual mode is covered in the mobile VoIP section.

FMC in this context is about ensuring corporate users can, for example, expect the same functionality from their PBX as their mobile and vice versa - same address book, call redirection and so on. In short, getting access to the same data and experience whichever network you use.

Ten mobile trends

1. FMC
2. Salesforce automation
3. VoIP
4. Payments
5. 3.5G - HSDPA
6. Location-based services
7. TV
8. Device management
9. M2M
10. Antivirus

Nick McQuire, Yankee Group programme manager, told silicon.com: "Across the board, there are varying stages. There are certain verticals that are very much looking at FMC... There are certain organisations - utilities, financial services - where we're seeing more and more interest. Over the last 18 months there has been significant interest in fixed-mobile convergence."

The analyst recommends CIOs should undertake an audit of their mobility to really understand how the company is operating using mobility before embarking on any change.

McQuire says companies may want "their service provider to walk them through it" but advises CIOs to avoid being shoehorned into a particular technology at the behest of their supplier.

RATING: 3/5 - getting there.