Aastra joins the FMC bandwagon

In its next major release, Aastra's NeXspan IP PBX can support Nokia E60 and Aastra i2052 softphone. The interesting bit is that customers don't have to install any additional software on Nokia devices - a marked difference from the path Avaya and Cisco has taken.

For the customer, the lack of need for additional software reduces the barriers of entry into the FMC world. This also allows Aastra to form partnerships to be formed with the likes of private network providers as well as low power GSM license winners. As this trend hits mainstream, I reckon that mobile operators will find it hard to stop their subsidised handsets from being used against them.