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. 

With the Apple iPhone unleashing on the market this week to bouts of acclaim and a few derisive voices pointing out its data streaming flaws, other companies are quickly jumping forward to announce their own super-multimedia platforms. What does that mean for the world of Mobile VoIP? A whole heck of a lot we hope.

The one thing that rampant competition tends to do for new technology is force it to evolve very quickly. The home PC race was bolstered immediately when Jobs and Gates went at each other and now the world of mobile VoIP might get a similar boost as companies are scrambling to create phones that could possible compete with the super sleek, universal appeal of the iPhone. 

The iRiver
First up, is South Korean company iRiver. Right out of the gate, this company has always tried to compete with Apple and their handheld multimedia devices. Their range of MP3 players were comparable even if they didn’t get nearly the sales or word of mouth delivery that the iPod did. They’re at it again though with their new iRiver W10.  

The W10 though is a bit more impressive because it directly integrates a VoIP phone with an internet browser, FM radio, MP3 Player, and e-book reader, among a few other interesting tool choices. The internet connection feature hopes to offer more than simple browsing by doing a pinpoint, GPS style mapping display for any user also using the phone.  

Similar to the iPhone, the iRiver offers a huge three inch, touch screen display and a 4-8 GB hard drive for music files. The price is still up in the air, but the possibilities are very interesting as the product would likely be cheaper than the overpriced Apple offering and not attached to the confines of an AT&T contract, meaning WiFi and VoIP access would be almost immediately possible.    

Nokia Jumps in As Well
A company that has always offered interesting and well designed phones has been Nokia. Unfortunately, their phones have always been directly attached at the hip to the mobile phone companies, meaning you had to sign up for a plan to get your phone unlocked. However, with their new E-series phones they have decided to unlock them and let users decide how they will function, a direct push it would seem at users interested in VoIP service.

The move is partially the result of AT&T bumping the E62 phone from its list, a move partially prompted by incredible iPhone hype. Their phones though are still number one in Europe. They produce quality phones, even if Americans have yet to catch on.  So, with the release of the E61i, E65, and E90 (mini-laptop), Nokia will be allowing third parties to start selling them such as Dell and Gateway. They’ve done this before with N series phones, but the E series are much more exciting as the phones offer full Wi-Fi support and a bevy of VoIP options. 

It looks like Nokia will soon be going head to head against HP and their iPAQ VoIP solutions. Either way, it’s good for consumers as more and more phones are hitting the market with unlocked interfaces and immediate VoIP capability.

As the world of mobile VoIP gets increasingly smaller, it looks like you’ll be able to use more and more mobile devices for VoIP service. Fring has recently announced that Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 have recently been added to the list of compatible devices for mVoIP. What does that mean? It means that more than a 300 different phones and PDAs sporting windows mobile are now ready to go with Mobile VoIP protocols. Google Talk, Skype, MSN, and Fring now work on all of them and that’s never a bad thing.

It’s a service that will turn hundreds of Windows Mobile PDAs without SIM cards into fully functional phones via VoIP service. Internet access via the WiFi cards on these devices makes it possible to leverage VoIP service, including everything from multiple live chat sessions to standard phone calls via Skype or other SIP based VoIP services.

Fring itself is an application designed for use with mobile phones to roam for free between wireless networks on GPRS, 3G or WiFi services. It’s a free download and offers multiple IM and SIP options from the same contact list. It’s essentially the wonder app for your mobile device and has been making major waves with mobile VoIP in recent months. The program offers additional options such as real time availability to help you choose the option that will work best, cheapest, and most efficiently.

To get Fring, you must simply download the service from their website or have it SMS messaged to you from a friend. It’s a largely considered one of the easiest and most user friendly apps around for use with mobile VoIP and with the addition of Windows mobile access is clearly trying to get itself into more and more markets.

Besides the Windows Mobile handsets, you can also use Fring with Nokia 60, N70, N80, N90, E60, and E70 series phones.  

Avi Shechter, Co-founder and CEO, fring stated: “fring is excited to let Windows Mobile users leverage fully integrated VoIP & multiple IM experience enabling calls, chat and real time presence via their mobile device’s internet capabilities, previously only possible on their PC. Like all fringsters, Windows Mobile users now have real mobile independence to make VoIP calls at no extra cost with rich presence indicators and hold multiple live chat sessions with their mobile, PC and landline contacts all from one integrated contact list”.

With the entire world on the edge of its collective seat waiting for the release of Apple’s iPhone next week, the question for VoIP addicts out there is whether or not the sleek new portable will have quite the muscle it needs to run VoIP applications and services. Mobile VoIP is the next wave, or so we’re told, so it’s not surprising that so many people are clamoring for more information.

For the most part, the technology of the iPhone’s WiFi capacity, Address book integration, 32-bit Operating System is all the basis needed to start bringing mobile VoIP to the mainstream. The particular SIP protocol that works with mobile phones is especially situated for this technology.

The market is currently burgeoning with a few new and developing SIP providers. However, with their infrastructure and the already developed .Mac framework, Apple could easily kick out their own SIP offering for use with the iPhone. It’s a question that is yet to be answered, especially with the stalwarts at AT&T keeping their doors and vaults guarded against such a use of the product. Ultimately, the question is whether or not it is more profitable for Apple to exclusively sell its product with AT&T or to offer the cutting edge options that so many of us wish they would independently.

So, with Apple making substantial sums of money either way with astronomical hardware sales and content downloads, what does that leave for AT&T? Lots and lots of service fees. And unfortunately, that’s what it’s looking like for the iPhone’s VOIP future.

AT&T has unfortunately already announced that they will charge a completely separate lineup of fees for the iPhone, essentially offering a separate billing contract for the device. This is most likely in response to the heavy data load the iPhone demands with its integrated internet features.

So, with more than $600 plus tax for the phone, a two year contract, and a data plan that no one is quite sure how much will cost yet, the iPhone is a pricey option for VoIP. The WiFi capabilities are still substantial, but they’re only useful when you’re in the right area and have the access to WiFi you need to use it.

For those that do get the iPhone though, give it a shot every now and then. We all know VoIP will work beautifully with this baby and if you’ve already spent that kind of money, get the most you can out of it. Just remember when the bill comes that those calls are still being paid for, regardless of how free the VoIP is.