TMCnet News
Orange unveils 'unik/unique' plan for FMC(Total Telecom Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Orange on Monday became the latest operator to announce plans to offer a service that provides one phone for both mobile and home fixed-line calls using unlicensed mobile access (UMA) technology. The fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) service, which enables a user to use a GSM handset to make home voice calls via the broadband network using a WiFi connection, will first be launched in France under the Unik brand on 5 October with one handset each from Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. The service will next be launched on 17 October in the Netherlands under the Unique brand, with the U.K. to follow suit on 1 November. The "Unik" brand is also expected to be launched in Spain before the end of this year and in Poland sometime in 2007. However, the same handsets may not be used for all the different markets, said a U.K. spokeswoman for the France Telecom-owned company. Orange originally said in May that it planned to launch an FMC service to exploit its fixed and mobile infrastructure in certain markets. The company made the announcement during the event to mark the official rebranding of ISP Wanadoo and business services provider Equant to Orange. A number of other operators such as BT, TeliaSonera Denmark and Telecom Italia have also launched similar FMC offerings, while the likes of Vodafone and T-Mobile have stuck with so-called homezone services that offer cheaper mobile calls when at home. But a recent conference on UMA raised doubts about the viability of the technology, with a number of operators noting that several glitches still need to be ironed out. Ovum principal analyst John Delaney was in a similarly sceptical mood about the Orange plan. "'Unique' it ain't," Delaney commented in a research note. "But is Orange's FMC offering likely to succeed? In my view, it has the same weaknesses of the other current FMC offerings on the market or in development. These include a very limited handset choice, and lack of true seamlessness in network handover." Orange has so far only provided details about its France launch, which will be limited to 100,000 subscribers. The company's spokeswoman said the measure to limit the number of users initially is to promote the idea of "exclusivity" in order to drive demand. Telecom Italia has also limited its offering to 30,000 users but this is thought to be related to regulatory issues. To be able to subscribe to Unik, French users will require an Orange Livebox, either the Nokia 6136, Samsung P200 or Motorola A910 handset, and an Orange broadband subscription. Calls made at home will be routed using a WiFi connection via the Livebox to the operator's broadband network, while calls outside the home will be carried on Orange's GSM network. The handsets will cost from E99 and two price plans will be available initially: Unlimited calls 24/7 from the mobile connected to the Livebox to fixed lines in France for E10 a month; Unlimited calls 24/7 from the mobile connected to the Livebox to Orange mobiles and fixed lines in France at E22 a month. U.K. users are now able to pre-register for the service at: www.orange.co.uk/uniquephone Copyright 2006 Terrapinn Ltd |