Around 10 years ago, the tele-com industry was buzzing -as it does - about fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). Billed as the "ultimate telecom merger," FMC envisioned a future where there was little or no difference between fixed-line and mobile phone services. Mobile phones would have the same value-added features as fixed-line (caller ID, call waiting, etc.) and could give the fixed-line phone worldwide mobility. And all this would be provided under a single phone number, with a single bill and a single point of contact for customer service. That was then. The FMC buzz fell by the wayside, in part because of the shift in hype to things like 3G and Wi-Fi, and in part because of the effect the busting of the telecoms bubble had on capex spending.
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