It's Wireless Substitution, Not Convergence, That People Want

A current buzzword in the mobile industry is convergence -- the idea of somehow combining a mobile phone with wireline service in a home or office. Despite high reported interest in converged systems, and the ever-present desire of people to save money, one analyst is now saying substituing wireless for wireline, rather than converging them, is what people really want. The truth is that consumers don't care about substitution or convergence, they want whatever's easiest to use, at the best price. The problem with early efforts at convergence is that they haven't been able to deliver on either of those criteria, while wireless plans that offer users discounted calls within a home or office zone can. The underlying technology doesn't really matter to people; it's the cost and the benefits it delivers that do.

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