C&W to fight Fusion with single landline-mobile service

Cable & Wireless is taking on BT's Fusion with the launch of its own fixed-mobile converged (FMC) service.

C&W announced it has successfully bid for an FMC licence, which will allow users to make both mobile and landline calls from a single phone.

The telco has purchased a GSM spectrum band to provide the service at a cost of more than £50,000 and, a spokeswoman told silicon.com, the service is expected to launch before the end of the year. Trials of the technology are already ongoing with C&W customers.

BT became the first company to launch a converged fixed-mobile service back in June last year, piggybacking on Vodafone's mobile network.

C&W has yet to announce which mobile network it will choose for its FMC service but the company is "in talks" with potential suppliers.

FMC services are predicted to be worth $28bn by 2011, according to recent research by analyst Informa Telecoms and Media.