Six Questions With Truphone’s Keith Wallington

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Late last week I had the pleasure of interviewing truphone’s Director of International Operations, Keith Wallington. Keith, as his title reflects, is responsible for international operations at Truphone. For those who are not familiar with Truphone, Truphone is a provider of Mobile VoIP services to the masses. What follows is our summary of conversation.

Keith, for those who are not familiar with mobile VoIP, how does it work?

In the context of Truphone, mobile VoIP is the transmission of voice telephony over a wireless bearer (typically Wi-Fi). Truphone has deployed a complete mobile telephony core network architecture based on IP: the IP equivalents of an HLR (Home Location Register) and MSC (Mobile Switching Centre).

The Truphone service treats the public wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) as the access bearer.

Tell us about Truphone

Truphone develops Internet Protocol-based (IP-based) mobile Internet telephony, delivered by means of 3G mobile networks and Wi-Fi networks.

The Truphone service enables free and low-cost calls for customers by routing calls via Wi-Fi and the Internet. The service is presently in a ‘beta’ state and offers Voice-over-IP, SMS-over-IP and ‘presence’ capabilities. This beta service was announced in mid-2006, when Truphone became the first company to introduce true Internet telephony for mass market mobile phones.

Truphone is the trading name of Software Cellular Network (SCN). SCN is privately owned, funded by both venture capital investment and angel investors. Truphone is based in London and provides service to users in the UK, Europe and U.S.

Mobile VoIP is the hottest thing in IP communications, what do you see as the largest barrier to getting your service in the hands of the mass-market user? (especially in the US).

Handsets that are VoIP and Wi-Fi enabled are a key challenge for mobile VoIP services to flourish. To date the Truphone beta has been provided on a variety of Nokia E and N Series handsets: these Nokia devices are all VoIP ready. The truphone software configures and enhances the device to allow Wi-Fi and VoIP to offer a user experience equal to or better than cellular. In 2008 there will be an explosion of VoIP and Wi-Fi enabled phones with all of the large handset manufacturers having a range of handsets on their road maps for Q1 2008.

With the recent hiring of Tom Carter to run US operations, what are Truphone’s plans for the US market in terms of service offerings and partnerships?

Truphone is positioning globally as the “Mobile operator for the Internet Age”, you will see a bouquet of services emerging early 2008 that will bring the richness of the Internet to the convenience of mobile telephony. The US is an important market for truphone and Tom’s experience across both the Internet and Telecommunications industries is a powerful catalyst for truphone to build partnerships that will enable the services and distribution models required for us to compete within the mobile telephone market.

Right now Truphone is available on a limited number of handsets, when will more become available?

As I stated previosuly, in 2008 there will be an explosion of VoIP and Wi-Fi enabled phones with all of the large handset manufacturers having a range of handsets on their road maps for Q1 2008. At that time I would expect to see more phone that are compatible with Truphone’s service.

Do you see cellular carriers continuing to block your services for the long term or will they partner with you or offer their own competitive service?

It’s likely we will see a combination of partnering, competing services and attempts at blocking. I believe there are few mobile operators on the planet that still view VoIP with contempt, most are engaging VoIP in some way either embedded in new services or as a means of evolving their core networks. The flexibility, cost efficiency and richness of VoIP are now largely beyond question. I am encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive reception truphone has been afforded in many of the markets in which we intend offering a service. Yes there are commercial and regulatory challenges but I believe the stakeholders realize now that mobile VoIP will bring positive change and is inevitable.

For more information about Truphone, please visit this Truphone Review