The Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) and the Fixed Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA) have teamed up to help ensure widespread availability of fully interoperable home gateways, access points and devices that deliver a superior user experience, the organizations said.
HGI and FMCA will develop a common message on product interoperability and ease of use requirements, with support from vendors and standards bodies to further enhance industry alignment and adoption of convergence products and services, they said.
Members of the two organizations jointly will review the product requirements and technical specifications generated by their various working groups. The focus will be on the delivery of a richer user experience in the broadband home, allowing customers to benefit from greater interoperability, ease of use and seamlessness of gateways, devices and applications, the organizations said.
HGI’s Release 2.0 and FMCA’s Product Requirements Definition, PRD Release 3.0, also will be aligned. These technical documents provide telecom-operator guidance for the convergence of services, networks and devices in the home.
“The HGI and the FMCA are both driven by customer requirements and are jointly addressing convergence issues and challenges to stimulate the environment for truly global convergence solutions,” said HGI’s CTO Paolo Pastorino. “The synergy between the home gateway and convergent devices within the residential network, such as SIP handsets or set-top boxes, is essential in driving the use of advanced services in the home. The close working relationship that we have with the FMCA, and with other major industry bodies, is key to our success as we strive to unify the product requirements of the world’s telecom operators.”
The two industry bodies represent 36 telecom operators and more than 1 billion customers around the world who benefit from the development of convergence services.
The HGI Release 2.0 and FMCA PRD Release 3.0 are scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2007.
Home Gateway Initiative www.homegatewayinitiative.org
Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance www.thefmca.com
