What would you outsource to your mobile operator

The mobile landscape is growing larger and more strategic to business. Users' phones are supporting a blend of personal and business use. Such an environment is complex to plan, build, manage and secure, so how would you feel about outsourcing it? How about outsourcing it to a mobile network operator?

Slowly but surely, the cellular carriers are likely to approach enterprises with managed wireless service packages. Such packages, for example, might include a mix of service usage plans plus the installation and management of in-building cellular equipment that possibly supports Wi-Fi services, as well.

Managed fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) CPE services to enable roaming between the two network types, indoors and out, might be still another option. FMC equipment maker Agito Networks, for example, last week said it has appointed a former AT&T sales exec as its vice president of strategic accounts.

"There is work in the carrier channel, we have signed deals, and this new executive is going to help sling shot that effort," an Agito spokesman told me by e-mail.

Emerging enterprise-grade femtocells and enterprise radio-access networks (E-RAN) will theoretically boost indoor cellular coverage at more affordable rates than distributed antenna systems (DAS). It's a natural fit to partner with one or more wireless carriers for any of these products, because as the license holders of cellular spectrum, carriers must be the ultimate signal source of the indoor equipment. Still, incumbent operators don't exactly have a reputation for flexibility and customer service.

Turning your Wi-Fi network over to your mobile carrier is an even murkier decision, particularly if you are already well into your Wi-Fi implementation.

Some DASs support Wi-Fi already, and new E-RANs (which use the existing Ethernet to distribute cellular signals) may support Wi-Fi, as well. How well Wi-Fi equipment from such companies competes with the mature enterprise-class vendors' products in large companies is at this point unclear.