GSM Interworking Profile - Deployments

Deployments

While GIP was deployed to some success at Telecom '95 in Geneva, the system has not been commercially deployed since. Hybrid DECT/GSM devices have appeared, but these have essentially been "Two phones in a box" systems that combine the functionality of a standard GAP phone with a GSM phone, so that a person can receive and make calls on either their home phone line or a mobile network without having to use two phones. An example of this approach is BT's/Ericsson's OnePhone service.

Most probably, the fact that the system requires an ISDN connection, which in most countries where ISDN is popular is priced by time used, has made GIP a difficult sell. In practice, the system appears to be oriented towards carriers instead of individuals, and carriers can more easily create microcells using their own spectrum, running ordinary GSM and not requiring the use of special handsets.

With the advent of the Internet and widespread availability of high speed Internet connections, GIP could be redesigned to make use of Internet instead of ISDN connections. However, the industry has gone in the direction of using GAN/UMA, which substitutes an 802.11 or Bluetooth air interface for GSM/UMTS's and as such can use unmodified commodity infrastructure.