Convergence (telecommunications)

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With convergence (from Latin. Convergere to incline), the struts and together into each other leavening various portions designated a whole.

In the telecommunications sector , in particular, the extensive digitization of all data (image, sound, video, writing and so on) has become detached from content-specific, mostly historically based forms of transmission (analog telephone lines for voice; satellite, cable and radio systems for sound and video; Teletext and fax for writing and so on). Today digital content can be transmitted in a wide variety of ways: The decisive factor is no longer the type of transmission, but only the transmission capacity. There are many different possibilities for convergence between the transmission paths and services in telecommunications. This is also one of the reasons why the term convergence is not used consistently in telecommunications.

There are basically the following types of convergence in telecommunications:

• Virtual convergence (tariff variants and call forwarding )
• Message Management Convergence Service ( Unified Messaging )
• Convergence in messaging ( SMS , MMS , IM )
• Convergence of the access networks; z. B. IP -based Internet and circuit-switched telephone network using the next generation network and bitstream access
• Consolidation of voice telephony and the associated phone numbers across technical network boundaries ( dual phone )
• Merging of landline, cellular and telephone system (integrated telephony from the cloud, platform as a service )
• Triple play and quadruple play with the integration of media content: ( IP ) TV , video-on-demand

The first convergence approach for private customers in Germany at the end of the 1990s consisted primarily of merging mobile and fixed network services through tariff variants that were intended to promote the substitution of fixed network connections by mobile communications. In Germany, what was then VIAG Interkom (now Telefónica o2) was a pioneer in this area with the “ Homezone ” approach.

See also

• Fixed Mobile Convergence

literature

• Ralf Kaumanns: Convergence or Divergence? Expectations and preferences of consumers for the telecommunications and media offers of tomorrow. 2006, IBM study (PDF; 1 MB)
• European Commission: Green Paper on the Convergence of Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology Sectors and Their Regulatory Impact. A step towards the information society. COM (97) 623; December 3, 1997 / (PDF; 300 KB)