As more and more consumers opt out of traditional telephone services in favor of cellular phones, the undeniable trend in the telecommunications industry is the development of fixed to mobile convergence, or FMC, to allow cell phones to seamlessly switch from the cellular network to a landline network infrastructure, and back again.

The dwindling revenues and loss of market share by the traditional telephone companies, along with the growing use of IP networks to carry data and voice, are spurring a business model that is transitioning from distance calling, to a model based on calling a person.

The emerging standard 802.16 defines a network of wireless broadband at speeds capable of delivering triple play access to voice, data, and multimedia internet services. As a disruptive technology, WiMAX stands to compete with cable companies, the Telcos, and the 3G cellular networks. Thanks to the IEEE standards committee and the WiMAX Forum, the fledgling technology that got serious in 2004 is now being deployed in regions around the world.

On March 1, 2007, the FCC ruled in favor of a petition brought by Time Warner Communications, stating that local exchanges cannot deny access to wholesale telecommunication carriers (TWC) to provide services and exchange traffic, including voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

The decision overturned rulings in South Carolina and Nebraska that allowed local rural exchanges to deny access to wholesale carriers, arguing that the wholesale providers were not true telecommunications providers, as they do not offer services directly to the public.

The advent of wireless broadband has put a new twist on peoples mobility and communications. Wireless broadband connections can take many different forms. From an extension of conventional wired networks in your home or office, to wireless coverage of entire metropolitan areas, to the proliferation of WiFi hotspots all over the world, the Internet truly makes the world a global place.

Businesses have for some time now been utilizing voice over IP telephony through the building of converged networks. As VoIP technology matures and the network pipe grows ever larger, LANs that existed primarily for data transmission are being converted to handle all types of media based on the Internet Protocol. With a well established infrastructure of fiber optic trunk lines, wide area networks can carry much more traffic at much higher speeds than they could have in the early nineties.

While Voice over IP Telephony has proven to be a viable and cost saving alternative to the traditional telcos for the small business community, there are some drawbacks that the residential consumer should consider before making the switch.

Power Outages

Because your VoIP service utilizes a broadband connection and the hardware plugs into the wall, if a power outage should occur, you would have no telephone service.

Peer to Peer technology (P2P) first came into focus through companies like Napster and Kazza, who developed file sharing applications that would allow users to share their own files, as well as search for and download files of other users on the network. Instead of relying on a centralized client server relationship, a peer to peer network gets its strength from each individual node, adding bandwidth and processing power with each new member for the good of the many.