Mobile Operators Push Into Mobile VoIP

Mobile VoIP is becoming a hot topic as more companies pop to offer VoIP clients that run on any Internet-enabled cell phone, such as Nokia's E-series handsets. Judging from the buzz at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment this week in Los Angeles, mobile carriers are trying to change mobile VoIP from a threat to an opportunity, before it gains critical mass.

Third-party mobile VoIP clients divert voice minutes from the cellcos – a potentially massive revenue drain. The threat lingers in announcements like the one from VoxLib this week, launching what it said is the first-ever voice IM mobile application for the mass market, enabling consumers to use their mobile phones to make long-distance calls to PC users that subscribe to IP voice services such as Skype. (see story)

Also this week, mobile operators countered this and similar peer-to-peer applications news by pronouncing such applications unreliable and limited in scope. In fact, CDMA2000 operators upgrading to 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev A) with conversational QoS capability will be the first to offer carrier-grade VoIP over 3G, inciting real user adoption. At least, that was the proclamation from the CDMA Development Group (CDG) at CTIA.

Beyond supporting an entire new lineup of real-time and concurrent services that use VoIP packets, the evolutionary upgrade to Rev A will increase downlink and uplink speeds, provide symmetry, and reduce latency and jitter for delay sensitive services that require increased levels of priority, according to the organization. Further, VoIP can be integrated with other apps like push-to-talk, push-to-media, video conferencing, multicasting and richly rendered 3D gaming with multiple players. All of that will set the network owners ahead, said CDG.

“Being able to offer carrier-grade VoIP services over a mobile network is one of the biggest breakthroughs to come along in years,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “It will help enable the convergence of telecommunications with entertainment, consumer electronics and information technology.”

Dual-mode phones that switch from the cellular WAN to VoIP over Wi-Fi or WiMAX when in a hotspot/zone is another potential way to head off toll bypass. Mobile operators like T-Mobile USA LLC and Verizon Wireless have built extensive hotspot networks, while Sprint has thrown its weight behind WiMAX for its 2.5GHz spectrum. These carriers and others like them can potentially offer subscribers a simple, integrated, seamless wireless experience, with QoS as a big differentiator against standalone mobile VoIP applications.

Accordingly, a testing program for dual-mode Wi-Fi-cellular devices was announced this week by the Wi-Fi Alliance and CTIA at the Los Angeles event. The groups jointly released a test document for independent third-party laboratory tests that provide radio frequency performance mapping in a mixed-network environment. The industry-supported program will provide detailed information about the performance of the Wi-Fi radio in a converged handset, and how the cellular and Wi-Fi radios interact with one another, along with measurements on key parameters, including: transmit power, receive sensitivity, emitted power and desensitization in the dual-mode environment. To complete the testing a device must also be Wi-Fi-certified for core Wi-Fi interoperability and CTIA-certified for core cellular performance.

“The new test program is another indicator of Wi-Fi’s widespread acceptance and growth from a traditionally PC technology to one that is now common in a variety of consumer devices, including mobile phones,” said Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

By leveraging the network, carriers aim to shut down the mobile VoIP revenue drain from third parties. It remains to be seen if the strategy will be successful.

CDMA Development Group www.cdg.org
CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment www.wirelessit.com
Wi-Fi Alliance www.wi-fi.org

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