Mobile VoIP is Not the Future For Cellular Providers

Hamid Akhavan Has a Pretty Good View Of the mobile voip Landscape

Being CEO of a company whose has done trials in this space, and whose parent Duetchse Telecom, has already done some extensive work with mobile VoIP and fixed mobile convergence, might know what he is talking about.

“There are all sorts of technical issues that make mobile VOIP services difficult to implement,” he said. Technical issues related to how networks pass on IP addresses of mobile users have not been completely resolved, he noted. “Take reachability, for example: How can the call come to me?”

Sure we all want to mobile VoIP because it is “cool”, but cool in the corporate world does not happen unless cool works and makes money. Akhavan does not seem too optimistic about the profit potential of mobile VoIP either. According to Akhavan, mobile VoIP, “will take a small share” of total mobile revenues.

“When people talk about VOIP, they think free,” Akhavan said. “With any mobile service provided over the Internet, you’re going to need to buy a data package.”

One has to agree with these statements, after all who wants to pay for a cellular plan, a data plan, and a VoIP service plan for their mobile phone in addition to their home internet and voice plan?

If Not Mobile VoIP Then What?

If cellular carriers like T-Mobile do not see a big future in mobile VoIP, you can put money on the fact that they are looking into utilizing personal cellular base stations, such as Ericsson’s Femto Cell Solution, that allow users to “dock” their cellular phone when the arrive home allowing for the ability to use their cellular data plan to surf the web and make plain old voip calls. These devices allow cellular providers to sell into their existing customer base additional services, while leveraging their existing network, all the while elimanting some of the fragmentation that currently exists with having multiple providers for your communications needs.

Cellular providers get an increased ARPU. Consumers get a useful service and a lower bill. It is a win-win that does not have the same sort of technical difficulties and perceived cost difficulties of mobile VoIP. Mobile VoIP, as so it may seem, is not the immediate future of cellular providers. It’s looks like these cellular base stations, though, might just be.