Fixed-Mobile Integration Beyond Unified Communications?

Fixed-mobile convergence--the service provider ability to supply retail services to customers using features of both the mobile and fixed networks, has been a background issue for service providers for more than two decades. 

In the 5G era it is in part an effort to enable seamless customer experience when using mobile and other devices, irrespective of which network (fixed or mobile) is used. That might range from simple authentication processes, the ability to support a single “persona” on either network, common security processes or failover from one network to the other. 

source: Heavy Reading 

In the past, FMC has largely been an issue for suppliers of enterprise communications (unified communications, for example). And that might still the case for 5G FMC, a survey by Heavy Reading suggests. Internet of things and new service tiers also are viewed as promising outcomes. 

The 5G era adds a new “back end” interest in convergence. The abil;ity to support virtual private networks using network slicing could, in principle, be combined with features of a fixed network. The simplest example might be simultaneous customer use of all the bandwidth available from both a fixed and a mobile network. 

source: Broadband Forum

Early on, the ability to aggregate bandwidth from any available network is likely to be the most common form of FMC.As in the past customers have switched their mobile devices from mobile network to fixed network Wi-Fi, FMC might take the process one step further and support seamless use of all available bandwidth, automatically. 

There might be additional angles, since the expected 5G small cell radio network requires lots of optical fiber backhaul, boosting the value of a dense optical fiber backhaul network. 

In turn, such dense optical backhaul networks and small cell architectures are the possible foundation for many other services, running from edge computing to internet of things, artificial intelligence and virtual reality applications and private networks as well. 

That is not a traditional understanding of FMC, but is a new angle as well: more architectural integration of the backhaul networks supporting both fixed and mobile access.