I have to agree with Andy Abramson. I do not think Skype’s statements that mobile VoIP is still three to four years away are accurate for the market as a whole. Skype has been late to the game with their mobile offering (which I covered here) and I agree with their strategy of taking their time with their offering, but to make a wide-scoping statement like they did is a little off basis.
Many mobile VoIP providers, such as MobiVox and Truphone have been very successful to date and as consumer awareness and education as to the benefits of the technology increases over the next year or two, I see mobile VoIP offerings taking off.
While Andy states that the current environment of carrier non-cooperation is something that is currently limiting the service, I think that the lack of compatible handsets is something that is the major limiting factor for the industry right now, especially in the US, where the Nokia N and E series phones are not as prevalent. Until mobile VoIP providers start supporting more handsets or manufacturers start offering more handsets that are compatible with mobile VoIP services, the industry will still be “poised for growth.”
For some reason I do not see that staying true for long.
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5 responses so far ↓
toqueboy // Jan 15, 2008 at 2:10 am
thanks for the interesting blog. i’ve had Skype for awhile and am looking for a handset, but would ideally like to get an efficient wifi device. i’ve read horrendous reviews for almost everything that Skype sells at their shop and was wondering what you would suggest? should i be waiting another year or two for a wifi handset that has a decent battery and web login capacity or is there something on the market that will make due until there’s a some clear winners?!
Garrett Smith // Jan 15, 2008 at 5:46 am
@toqueboy:
I have had pretty good success with the Linksys WIP320. I wrote a review of the Linksys WIP320 here: http://www.smithonvoip.com/voip-product-reviews/linksys-wip320-review/
The battery life is not great, but for right now this is the best Skype WiFi phone on the market.
toqueboy // Jan 17, 2008 at 9:03 pm
interesting that you wrote about the iphone, because i was longging on today to ask you about it. it was suggested that rather getting a wifi Skype phone that i get an iphone and just use Skype on it whenever i can get wifi connection…
you obviously are not a fan of the iphone, but is my thinking way off on this? to my mind, what i need is a wireless wifi device that can load the Skype software… is there another option out there…the linksys phone is definitely not what i want.
Garrett Smith // Jan 17, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Well…the battery life when using the WiFi connection on the iPhone is very poor and to shell out $399 just so you can use Skype?
I would recommend that you go with one of the Nokia N or E series phones. They offer more features and their price points are much easier to swallow.
You can pick one up up new and unlocked on eBay pretty easily.
Bryan // Jan 27, 2008 at 4:50 am
I think mobile voip is that close to being a reality, I think you might just need to look at it at another level, not as focused to providers like Skype. I for example have a smartphone in which there are several third party SIP clients available for it. This allows me to make my cellphone have an extension assigned to it from my office voip system, and make calls in and out of that system as if I were sitting right at my desk. Using Sprint, with its $30 a month unlimited data plan, that makes this a very attractive alternative, especially because I am using zero cellular minutes. Cellular companies may object to this, but once the business market realizes this is possible, the demand for using a cellular provider to tie into your existing office pbx is going to go sky high, in my own opinion of course.
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