Will UMA Succeed?


Another big news item at 3GSM is Nokia’s 6136 which supports Unlicensed Mobile Access. Most news sites are reporting this as a dual-mode WiFi/GSM phone but there’s more to it than this. You won’t just be able to go out and buy a UMA phone and be able to make Skype-style calls. It will depend on whether your network operator has chosen to allow (implement) UMA.



Your network operator needs to set up and run a UMA Network Controller (UNC) in the above diagram. It’s down to them rather than the companies (currently LG, Motorola, Nokia) who are currently promoting the phones. As with location based services (LBS), some network operators may well choose to ignore this new technology.

So why might a network operator cannibalise its own market and allow UMA calls? Well, most will only do so if they think they will make more money. Those that decide to take the risk, will probably want to charge you for the convenience of having one number (and phone) that can be used to make mobile and ’residential’ calls. They think of VoIP as ‘calls cheaper than your current landline’ rather than ‘more expensive than Skype (free)’. In the USA, UMA is likely to be more popular due to improved residential coverage because mobile coverage is currently patchy.

Issues include whether subscribers will be able to use WiFi hotspots and the quality of service. For example, Skype VoIP isn’t 100% reliable and the sound quality and latency (echo) is variable. Network operators won’t be able to control the reliability or performance of your broadband so, in turn, won’t be able to promise much with UMA.

I do believe VoIP on mobile phones will eventually become common but probably not via UMA. If history is anything to go by many network operators will be too greedy. They will ask for revenue for VoIP calls, not allow or restrict calls via hotspots or not implement UMA as they can’t see the business case.

Meanwhile, a company called Teles has filed a patent claim against Nokia’s 6136.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Mobile, Network Operators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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