THE Universal Mobile Access OPPORTUNITY

In January 2004, 14 leading operators and vendors in the wireless industry set out to develop and publish an open set of technical specifications for extending mobile voice, data and IMS services over broadband IP access networks, and subsequently encourage the specifications to be adopted by a formal global standards organization.

The participating companies published the initial UMA Technology specifications on Sept. 2, 2004, and contributed them to the 3GPP for consideration as a formal global standard. On April 8, 2005, the specifications were officially incorporated into 3GPP Release 6 as Generic Access Network, or GAN, making UMA/GAN the first true global standard for convergence.

In November, 2007, the GAN specification was enhanced. Previously the UMA/GAN controller only supported 2G (A/Gb) interfaces into the mobile core, but this release added 3G (Iu) interface support to GAN Release 8.

By providing a standard, scalable, and secure IP interface into core mobile service networks, UMA enables a number of compelling new fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services designed to accelerate fixed-to-mobile substitution as well as address in the increasing threat from VoIP services.

Dual-Mode Wi-Fi Handsets: UMA/GAN has become the industry standard for dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi handset (DMH) services. Mobile operators provide high-performance, low-cost mobile services to subscribers when in range of a home, office or public Wi-Fi network. With a UMA DMH service, subscribers can automatically roam and handover between cellular and Wi-Fi access, receiving a consistent set of services as they transition between networks. Read More (pdf) >>

Femtocells: With the rollout of 3G/UMTS networks, many subscribers experience poor 3G/UMTS coverage while at home. Femtocells enable mobile operators to leverage existing broadband access connections to provide dedicated, high-performance 3G/UMTS coverage within subscriber homes. UMA/GAN was the first 3GPP standard protocol for providing femtocell-to-core network connectivity. Read More (pdf) >>

Terminal Adaptors: Terminal adaptors enable mobile operators to deliver standard analog telephone service over broadband access networks and participate in the rapidly growing broadband telephony market. As far as subscribers are concerned, the service behaves as a standard fixed telephone line and is delivered in a manner similar to other fixed line VoIP services, where a simple device (in this case the UMA terminal adaptor) is connected to the subscriber's existing broadband service. Read More (pdf) >>