The VOIP Provider Guide

The future of Mobile VoIP is largely reliant on the phone companies rather than the technology. No one is of the opinion that the technology will not be there. Already this year we’re seeing the widespread deployment of the CDMA EVDO technology that makes it so much easier for business VoIP solutions to work out. Similarly, in the coming years, multiple other new technologies such as WiMAX should arrive and simplify it even further.

All of these additions make WiFi access much faster, improving overall performance and speeding up the rate of transfers throughout the networks that are quickly spreading across major cities. Faster internet speeds are great and everyone is excited by universal broadband, but another nice side effect is the increased performance and viability of Mobile VoIP, something businesses are salivating over.

Here’s the major problem though. Most phones still need some sort of unlimited data plan to utilize internet access and thus VoIP. Such a plan is often upwards of $80/month or so, which most people would consider decent business. However, it’s not when you consider the top end of current cell service is almost $200/month. Such a drop is not good for phone companies.
Fortunately, the companies cannot raise data plan rates without angering the masses and so many people have a data plan it would cause significant problems. This means that many phone companies will go out of their way to make it harder for VoIP viability.

Which, of course means that better phones, more impressive technology, and eventually better service will follow. It’s just a question of how much time will pass before it all shows up. It’s probable that many companies will attempt to block VoIP in the coming years, but with companies like T-Mobile and Sprint actively jumping onto the bandwagon of VoIP with Clearwire and WiMAX services, the probable result is that the others will have to fall in suit. In the end, companies like Verizon and AT&T are stuck between the options with little room on either side to move.

The other major problem for phone companies is that their service has always been slightly inferior to landline service. After years of slightly distorted service, claiming to have higher quality than VoIP carriers is probably not going to fly either. The only option they have then is to vastly improve their network, an investment that just isn’t worth it with VoIP so quickly driving down costs.So, the only real answer to the problem is to join the competition and start offering service via packet based, digital service. The phone companies have been using circuit-switches for decades but it might be time to finally make the switch to digital, something nearly every other service has slowly been doing in recent years.

If you follow all of the logic down the line then, you’re left with a single, simple solution; things are going to be very good for Mobile VoIP in the coming years. The technology is quickly growing to support universal WiFi in all major cities and towns and soon the technology will be there to offer affordable, high quality mobile phones with WiFi access (as seen in the iPhone and Nokia’s E Series).

Mobile companies will soon jump on board because they will have no choice if they don’t want to lose all of their market share, and as soon as a major company or two jumps on board (as was seen with VoIP for landlines), the service will have the kind of universal support and attention needed to start taking off. In the very near future, Mobile VoIP will be a much more common household phrase. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 11:14 am and is filed under VOIP Advice, VOIP News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.