Siemens Communications CEO Delivers Message Of 'True Convergence'

In a keynote address Thursday during the final day of Interop in Las Vegas, Mattes said today's disparate networks and their accompanying communications devices are making it more difficult to communicate with each other. "The problem is there is no common interface," he said. "That needs to change going forward."

Second-generation IP technology will help further that idea, but only if vendors agree on a common interface. "Second-generation IP must be standards-based. Otherwise, the user is still hostage to the vendors' individual features and functionalities," Mattes said. "For this to work, open standards are a must."

A second-generation IP network with open standards also will enable CIOs to save money on new network deployments, he added. "Second-generation IP gives new options. A company can purchase CPE [customer premises equipment] as always, or they can receive their services via a service provider, such as a communication service provider or a managed service provider," he said. "They can lease a Centrex. The end result is a dramatic cost savings for the CIO."

As part of Siemens' drive to second-generation IP technology, Mattes introduced a permission-based communications concept that the company calls LifeWorks, which combines all forms of communications--mobile phone, laptop, PDA and desktop phone--into a common interface that enables users to be reached anytime and anyplace.

"The three main aspects of this concept are what we call 'P-cubed': presence-enabled, permission-based and process-integrated," he said.

Mattes also previewed a high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) card developed by Siemens. When plugged into a laptop, the card can provide download speeds of 14.4 Mbps, almost twice as fast as cable or broadband service, he said. The card is slated to become available this summer through Cingular Wireless as part of its nationwide 3G cellular network rollout, he added.