New Spec for Voice over Cable

CableLabs is releasing a new version of the PacketCable specification used for voice services over cable. The 2.0 release will include support for business features and also support for IMS-based FMC, presumably to support either a cable company push into wireless or an MVNO relationship with a provider like Sprint. The move is likely to be linked to the recent reports of FMC activity at AT&T and Verizon, and it may thus be an indicator of a broad industry trend toward convergence of wireless and wireline voice. As we have noted many times, however, it is far from clear that such a convergence would necessarily create IMS momentum.