FMC to change equation

Hong Kong's imminent FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence) demands real-time collaboration between fixed and mobile carriers. "We need integrated customer profiles, billing, marketing, customer relationships, and a phonebook, all on a common platform for fixed lines and mobile networks," said Poon. "On the IT side, we had to re-engineer most of the application systems, because the billing services for fixed and mobile networks are so different."

"We need to calculate the usage cost of fixed and mobile networks for a single call," he said. "In the future, tariffs may be integrated: either the fixed calls will be charged for usage or mobile calls will not be charged for usage. At present, mobile calls are almost at a flat tariff, so in the future, if everything runs on IP, true integration could be a flat rate or a packet rate for IP usage."

With FMC, a caller will not be able to tell whether the number is mobile or fixed, so the now-separate fixed and mobile number portability databases used by carriers to locate a called person will need to be integrated into a single database. If a called person uses a single number for his mobile and fixed phone, they must decide which phone he or she wants the network to ring.

"A subscriber with fixed and mobile phones could decide that both phones should ring when his number is called," explained Poon. "Or perhaps a fixed line would ring at certain periods of the day and the mobile at other periods. A button on the fixed phone could be pressed to indicate the presence of the subscriber to receive calls. Another advantage is that, in an office or family home, subscribers can arrange four different ringtones for four different people."