Loading...VoIP has been around for quite some time and little needs to be said about the advantages they enjoy over wired or wireless carriers. As you may have guessed, call prices is what drives users to VoIP in spite of the fact that voice quality over internet has much to be desired. The usual way to take advantage of VoIP based service is to use Skype like programs. However, the cumbersome procedures make it a little difficult when you have to do it on mobile devices. There is first the need that users at both ends have to be online, and the second is internet speeds have to be substantial if it is going to be a video call.
Like the VoIP phone, mobile VoIP usage is on the upswing and if we go by the number of users worldwide, the day is not for off when mobile VoIP phones will become the standards for phone services. There is at least one aspect that telecom companies need to address before the mobile VoIP phones become acceptable to all users, namely integrating the two very different technologies that telecom companies and internet use for voice transmission. Hopefully if that happens, then call charges can go down to almost nothing. That some companies are already working successfully on new software is a welcome feature.
Another factor that will decide the utility of mobile VoIP phone is interconnecting the internet and wireless internet with PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) to give users true mobility. However, for that to happen, telecom markets will have to be liberalized more than what they are today with more applications. Once that is done the market for mobile VoIP is likely to grow by leaps and bounds from the paltry 40 million users out of 6 billion mobile users worldwide. That big players like Microsoft and Skype are working on these lines is a welcome feature.
While VoIP is a welcome product for most users on account of the low cost of calls, the threat to mobile phone operator’s revenue is very real, and it would be realistic to expect some resistance from them. That is already happening in some countries, especially in Europe, where mobile operators have banned VoIP on their networks but for three operators who are actually collaborating with Skype to provide mobile phone services on VoIP. That they collaborate is good news for users. The day is not far away when most mobile networks will understand the futility of staying away from such developments.
Whether mobile phone networks and PSTN networks like it or not, a combination of WiMAX and internet in providing mobile VoIP to customers can be a real threat to traditional mobile phone service companies. Unless they choose to go with the stride, their very existence will become a question mark. Whatever the pulls and pushes between the different operators the future of mobile VoIP getting better over the years is a bygone conclusion. It is only a matter of time before that happens.