Communications Convergence
by Gerald Trites

Ever since the changes in business brought about by the internet became evident, there has been talk of convergence. This means that various previously extant technologies would be melded into a single new or combined technology. It meant that the companies that provided these technologies to customers, or used them to provide their services, would also have to change and converge, or merge or go out of business and be replaced by new companies more in tune with the changing times.

Some of this has indeed happened, with land line carriers moving into the cell phone space and high speed internet. Land line carriers have been at greatest risk, since they held for a long time a position of essential monopoly in the provision of telephone services. As the eBusiness revolution gained in strength, their position came to be seen as more vulnerable, with competition coming from other carriers like cable companies and cell phone companies.

But there is a lot more change to come, convergence is still the watchword in the industry, and we "ain't seen nothin yet".

That technology has been changing rapidly in the communications field is an understatement. Over the past few years, we have seen the introduction of smart phones, more powerful hand-helds like the Blackberry, Netbooks, which rely heavily on the internet for applications and storage and new software applications that make effective use of VOIP.

Traditional carriers continue to be challenged and it is worth remembering that this is an industry that held a near monopoly not so many years ago. Can an industry that was mired in the inertia of a monopolistic environment develop the new more vigorous culture that is required to adapt to the unpecedented change that is about to befall them? The question is open.

The issue is that ultimately the industry is driven by the demands of the consumer - now more than ever before because the consumers have access to the new technologies and want to use them to their greatest potential. They want to be able to communicate and obtain the information they want seamlessly, independently of the carriers, anywhere, anytime. And they don't want to, and are not willing to, pay an arm and a leg for it.

How the carriers and the rest of the industry react to these changes is going to establish the viability of these and other companies in the communications industry over the next several years. Accenture has written a white paper on these issues which provides a high level strategic overview of the challenges, and is worth a read.