The Convergence of convergence

Convergence is an increasingly popular term being bandied about across our extended information, communications and networking industry. It is becoming ever more popular. It is now impossible to read an article or attend a presentation without the term "convergence" being on, if not at, center-stage. But like other words that become tech-trendy terms, I'm not sure I know anymore what is meant when someone gets on the stage and says "convergence." There are multiple technology, product and even industry convergences occurring at this same time. Let's call it the "Convergence of Convergence."

When I first found myself questioning the many uses of the word "convergence," I was often able to figure out what heretofore separate things were being converged from the context of the statement or, maybe even better, by the organization the person was representing. Even that isn't true anymore.

Now when a representative from a traditional supplier of telecommunications equipment speaks about convergence, I don't know for sure if they are talking about the convergence of voice, data and the Internet, or the PSTN and data networks converging into one IP network. Or perhaps they mean that cable TV and broadband are converging on an HFC network and maybe even converging with voice telephony into a triple play. Or maybe they are talking about bringing together separate wireline and wireless network backbones into one converged backbone; maybe onto one of several different packet-based networking schemes (thus adding a healthy bowl of alphabet soup--ATM, IP/MPLS, etc.--into my confusion).

I find it even more confusing when an FCC official begins talking about convergence. Does this mean the broad convergence of the two areas of communications the FCC regulates--telephony and broadcast (radio, TV), or wireline and wireless communications? Or is it a conversation about the convergence of TV license ownership and the percentage of the population that any license owner can cover with their services? It could even be the convergence of heavily regulated telephony and largely unregulated information services, as in the current debates about VoIP (in and of itself certainly a very popular platform for conversations about convergence).

Now, too, the PC and consumer electronics industries appear to be converging in their interests about home networking. Seeing PC companies offer televisions and digital cameras is a logical extension to the convergence of electronics--standard processors, massive memory and flexible applications development platforms resulting in relatively straightforward applications software development.

The message behind the multiplicity of convergences is that there are a few unifying forces or trends enabling or driving a number of heretofore-disparate technologies, networks, product families and even entire industries to come together--to converge. Optimistically, this convergence will increase the value of these products, services or solutions coming to market--coming as products of the telecom, datacom, Internet, computer, TV and probably a few other industries I haven't mentioned or even thought about. Maybe the broad IT/telecom industry should be renamed "Converged Networking"!

These unifying trends are forcing heretofore-separate electronics industries together and will be increasing competition across the board. Our ongoing industry research has led us to conclude that the IT vendors--especially computer hardware and software vendors--are encroaching into and actively entering the telecom industry as suppliers. They are extending their offers into product spaces that have historically been the purview of a focused group of vendors operating almost exclusively in telecommunications. A very select number of broad-based electronics vendors based in Europe and Asia are also engaged in telecommunications, largely originating from national historical and political reasons.

The transformation of telephony into IP networks is providing the insertion point for the IT vendors to expand their telecom presence. There are two major avenues they are utilizing for initial entry and expansion beyond the beachhead.  One is hardware and one is software.

The hardware entry point comes from the expanded use of industry standard processors as the brains of softswitches and other key application servers. These industry standard processors are replacing the proprietary (and historically costly) processors and closed architectures used in the TDM world.  This opens the heretofore-proprietary space to more competitors.

The software entry point is the ability for software vendors to use their broadly available software applications development platforms and tools to build new services, utilizing the intelligence already in the network elements and endpoints coupled with capabilities and flexibility of the service development platform's software. These new services can be brought quickly to market, since there is no the need to change the network infrastructure.

This network and services transformation is a manifestation of the capabilities enabled by the embodiment of the full range of convergence we hear about daily.  And it has the possibility of changing all of the spaces that generate revenue for today's telecom supplier vendors--switches/ servers, applications, other elements, OSSs and services.

David H. Yedwab is Executive Vice President of The Eastern Management Group, Bedminster, NJ. He can be reached at dyedwab@easternmanagement.com.

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