‘One number, one phone’ to rule them all, possible with broadband technology

By melvin g. calimag mb


If telephone operators here have refused to implement number portability — the ability to retain one’s landline or mobile phone number even if he or she changes his or her service provider — in their networks because of cost issues, a full-blown deployment of broadband technology would soon make their arguments obsolete.


The number portability issue — whether landline or mobile — has long hounded the US telecom market, pushing the federal government to even create the Number Portability Administration Center, operated by Lockheed Martin under the appointment of the Federal Communications Commission.

In the Philippines, two proposed laws have been filed in Congress last year to compel cellular carriers to implement number portability among the country’s mobile phone subscribers. The bills, authored by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda and Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago, have not gone beyond first reading and are pending with the Committee on Information and Communications Technology.

But for technology vendor Alcatel, the expensive cost associated in carrying out number portability is a minor problem that can be readily addressed by a broadband technology it is currently testing with some of the world’s largest phone operators.

Under Alcatel’s "usercentric broadband" vision, carriers and consumers alike will benefit from fixed-mobile-convergence (FMC), which will allow not only number portability but for a "single number, single phone" service.

Dominique Buyse, director for strategic marketing of Alcatel, explained during a recent broadband forum in Yokohama, Japan that FMC would enable a phone subscriber to use a single number for home, office, and mobile.

"This technology works in such a way that you can make any outgoing call or answer any incoming call on any phone. So when your phone rings, you don’t reach for your cellphone located in the kitchen but lift the handset nearest you," he said.

To build his case, the executive cited a survey done by the Yankee Group in 2004 which revealed that 30 percent of mobile phone calls were actually made inside the house and that 65 percent of users would prefer to have a single phone number for mobile, home, and office.

A converged network, Buyse said, will not only benefit the end-users but will also deliver revenues to the enterprise environment because of increased productivity (with a single number, an employee is always reachable) and lower tariffs and total cost of ownership (there would no longer be a need for cordless phones).

"With the ability to answer any call on any phone, you’re essentially creating a PABX network in your home," the official said, adding that the FMC technology is deployable five years from now.