The paper will deal with the issues related to the convergence in different technologies in the last few years. 

Convergence is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularisation of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space (Wikipedia, 2009).

In the first part of the paper examples of the convergence in technology will be discussed. Mostert (2008:3) provided and overview about the increasing availability and declining cost of bandwidth in South Africa and in the rest of the world. This lower cost of bandwidth provides opportunities to provide more services over the Internet. VOIP, Mobile TV, Internet on cellphones is just a few examples of convergence. Skype recently announced that LG and Panasonic will offer HD Television sets in the middle of 2010 that will be Skype enabled. It is also possible to play DVD on your Playstation.

In the second part a critical evaluation of convergence will be provided. Although convergence can be regarded as a positive development creating numerous opportunities, the phenomenon has also been criticized in the literature. Some of the issues that will be raised are to also look at the social impact of convergence.

Another concern is that some of the converged devices are frequently less functional and reliable than their component parts (e.g. a DVD may perform better on a traditional DVD player than on a games console). Due to this phenomenon people that can access the Internet, for example, on their cellphone also prefer to have Internet available on a computer. The concept of only one multifunctional device seems impossible at this stage.

Another important issue that is raised by the convergence in technology is the issue of regulation. As new convergence technologies have significantly impact on the telecom industry and regulators, a debate continues to grow over how the convergence technology fits into the traditional telecommunications regulation and industrial schemes. Internet telephony has sparked a regulatory debate on whether it is phone call service or information service: that is, whether or not Internet telephony traffic should be subjected to any or all of the various common carrier regulations. A similar series of legal questions will arise in the emerging convergence technologies: whether mobile TV is broadcasting or telecommunications. In South Africa the legislation to level the playing field between the different technology providers has been promulgated in 2005.

The conclusion is that convergence offer numerous and exciting opportunities to be developed further to benefit the consumer.

Bibliography

Mostert, JW. 2008. E- commerce and the WWW- A decade later. Paper delivered at the 9 th WWW Conference at Cape Town\

Wikipedia, 2008 Technological Convergence. Available WWW from http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Technological_convergence (accessed 6 January 2010).