Mobile VoIP, fear of the wild things
Mobile operators are wringing their hands over the use of VoIP in mobile phones. What are they afraid of?
- Eroding minutes. Long the dream of the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) crowd, VoIP-equipped mobile phones could avoid burning minutes by using enterprise Wi-Fi connections.
- More Skypes. Microsoft, Skype, and others are demonstrating free SIP-based VoIP clients for smart phones running Mobile Windows. With Google in the mix, the sky is surely falling.
I don’t get it. Traffic is traffic. And carriers get paid for transit.
- Carriers will get paid for data. VoIP calls are just voice calls in data clothing. And last time I checked, mobile broadband and mobile data was very expensive stuff. Verizon charges $80 per month for its EVDO-based mobile broadband service, and it certainly doesn’t care if you choose to use EVDO to carry Skype or Microsoft’s Office Communicator Mobile traffic.
- FMC will be under carrier control. I do not — for one second — believe that corporate IT will install FMC gateways on premise to handle mobile traffic over Wi-Fi. Instead, carriers will install gateways in their networks to originate and terminate FMC calls. Faced with the proposition of using carrier based FMC gateways or wrestling with their own gear on-site, the choice will be easy. XO is already stepping up the pace for VoIP wholesale offerings.
- VoIP/data traffic should improve the bottom line. Mobile VoIP will be more cost efficient than today’s circuit-based networks. No one will argue otherwise.
I can’t think of any realistic mobile VoIP scenario in which mobile operators do not get paid. Bring on SIP. Bring on FMC. Bring on the Skype wannabees.
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