Source: voipcentral.org

The news over last fortnight made me speculate that Skype is going to be a mobile service provider. I mean Mobile over VoIP, altogether a different proposition for the VoIP giant. The service will be available in UK very soon, most probably by the end of next month. Skype has teamed up with the recognized mobile operator Three to provide the service.

We have reported here Skype-Three agreement on Skype Handset. The partnership now moves beyond that. They are now planning to offer free mobile to mobile VoIP service using Skype software.

The customers must be overwhelmed. After all, they can make free calls from their handheld devices. However, there are certain critical implications for Mobile VoIP which we can not ignore.

For Skype, MOBIVOX will be the next major issue.

As it is distinctly visible, the mobile operators will loss their revenue if VoIP players like Skype will offer free or cheap mobile VoIP services over mobile operators’ network.

No doubt, the mobile operators can charge VoIP calls as data rates when customers are outside the WiFi areas, however they can not enjoy the hefty share.

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Source: voipcentral.org

There is no such service called Free in a strict sense. Even if you are making a free VoIP call, there are certain hidden costs associated with it, to say installation charge and Internet cost.

Any way, the availability of Skype-like applications have led us to classify free VoIP and paid VoIP. I dont need to define what free VoIP is.

A recent Ofcom report has candidly revealed that free VoIP services have failed attract a substantial number of customers in UK. I feel the scenario is same elsewhere.

The available of Skype like applications has no doubt drastically reduced the cost of international calls. However, they can not sideline the traditional phone service so easily for all practical reasons.

In its latest survey, the telecom regulatory authority has found that mere 17 per cent of adults in UK have used the services and only 14 per cent of people prefer to use the service over more conventional methods.

No doubt, the adoption of VoIP is growing at a rapid pace in the past few years. As per latest count, there are more than 2.4 million households across the UK having used VoIP service. It is only nine per cent of the total. Therefore, Ofcom says that the technology is still in the early-adopter phase.

Here I would like to raise a question that why the intake of VoIP is considerable low even if the adoption of broadband is growing rapidly.

There are number of reasons such as poor call quality, security, lack of general awareness, installment problem and lack of technical knowledge.

Source: voipcentral.org

Just imagine. The newly installed IP Telephony platform by the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) has managed to handle more than one million VoIP calls in a single day. The IP Telephony platform has been developed by BT. But, why is Nortel in news for that historic achievement?

A TMC blog post reveals that BT has used Nortel VoIP solutions for the development and deployment of DWPs IP network. It includes Nortels Communication Server 2000 Carrier class softswitch, 24,000 Nortel handsets (Nortel 2002 model), 4000 fax and other analogue devices, Nortel DWDM Optical and network security products and Nortel hosted service.

BT-supported DWPs Integrated Communications Network is one of the largest converged data and voice networks in Europe covering more than 435 sites in UK. The newly installed IP network provides communication services to nearly 35,000 users in UK.

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Source: voipcentral.org

We are more or less familiar with VoIP emergency service or E911. A similar type of service is 999 in UK. And Ofcom, the regulator for communication in UK has ruled that the VoIP service providers must ensure this service to the customers by the early 2008.

The regulatory body is pitching for VoIP emergency service following its study which claimed that nearly 78 percent of the VoIP customers who cannot use their service to call 999 thought they could, or did not know whether they could.

VoIP has shown rapid growth in UK registering nearly 2.4 million customers by end of last year. The subscribers base was 1.2 million a year before. The growth is mainly due to various advantages of VoIP service such as cheap international calls, unified messaging and easy way of call handling.

Although some leading giants such as BT and Vonage are offering emergency services to their customers, the overall 999 picture is quite discouraging.

Ofcom has expressed its concern that the VoIP users may not be forced to locate an ordinary landline or mobile phone, leading to an unintentionally impediment in accessing emergency services.

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Source: voipcentral.org

Its a victory of Truphone in general and MVoIP in particular. In a landmark ruling, the High Court in London has ordered T-Mobile not to block and initiate routing calls to Truphone numbers by 23rd of this month.

Though a final hearing is in waiting later, it is first time that a court ruling went in favor of mobile VoIP operator, otherwise the regulatory authorities have always maintained distance from the controversy between the mobile operators and VoIP players.

Launched in September 2006, Truphone enables customers to download free software on to their mobile phones and make free or low cost international calls using a WiFi network. It supports most of the 3G phones.

The leading MVoIP service provider has complained T-Mobile of blocking its VoIP calls without any strong reasons. These calls are made to number owned by the MVoIP company.

After the first round court verdict, relaxed James Tagg, the CEO of Truphone said,

The injunction is good news not only for Truphone but for every company trying to develop internet-era services and for every consumer wanting freedom of choice and lower prices.

Further reading

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Source: voipcentral.org

The scope of VoIP has now further extended. By VoIP, we should not think of just free internet calls. It can also be used in other fields, such as forestry.

The Forestry Commission England has announced that it is now upgrading its communication set up in line with VoIP technology to enable its workforce keep touch with each other round the clock and get timely information on any disaster occurred in the forest.

To workout the VoIP plan, the government department has joined hands with Globall Crossing in a 14 million. As per the agreement, they will implement a unified communications service connecting all 94 Forestry Commission sites throughout the UK.

The unified communication network will enable Commissions 3,500 employees engage in audio and video conferencing in a single managed communications infrastructure.

The Commission is now implementing the project in a phased manner to provide VoIP to all sites by the end of this year.

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Source: voipcentral.org

We have some good news for the mobile VoIP users, particularly for the Nokia smartphone users as Truphone has announced the launch of its Truphone Wizard 3.0 version for them.

The striking feature of the Truphone 3.0 is that it supports VoIP services over a 3G connection. It means that you can make VoIP calls in more places. However, you need to move your mobile operator to provide you 3G network. Any way, the latest version has other important features:

1.Free SMS messages (Exclusively for the Truphone users)

2.Supports multiple SIM cards (Helpful for regular travelers)

3.Enhanced presence view (You can know when to make VoIP calls)

4.Better managed WiFi access points

5.Works on multiple routers

6.Simple installation

Launched in September 2006, Truphone has emerged as one of the most popular Mobile VoIP applications brining free VoIP services to the WiFi enabled Nokia phones.
As of now, it is supporting Nokias E60, E61, E70 and N80 Internet Edition handsets. The company plans to add 25 more phones for its MVOIP applications by the end of this year.

Image with Report: Truphone Blog

Source: voipcentral.org

The battle lines have been drawn between the VoIP service providers and mobile operators, not surprisingly over MVoIP (Mobile over VoIP) application. This time, it is between T-Mobile and Truphone, which according to Om Malik, the former is blocking later on its network.

It is an open secret that the mobile operators cannot see their revenues being swallowed by the MVoIP players through their cheap VoIP services. However, they should not forget that VoIP calls could be charged as data rates when the customers are outside WiFi areas. It will accrue revenue for the operators.

Speaking to Giga Om about the T-Mobiles decision, James Tagg, CEO of Turphone explains,

This affects every new entrant into mobile telecommunications because the only company that can facilitate interconnection with T-Mobile is T-Mobile. It amounts to T-Mobile being able to veto a new entrant into the market. This would put telephony back 100 years, to a time when interconnections were not assured.

T-Mobile took the hard step barely three-days after Turphone launched its latest 3.0 client for the smartphone users. Most important feature of the latest version for the UK customer is no doubt free SMS service since 86 percent of UK mobile users are SMS users . Mobile messaging is a money spinning-tool for the operators. They cannot take it lightly the way VoIP players offering free services to the customers.

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Source: voipcentral.org

The British Telecom regulatory authority, OfCom (Office of Communication) has fixed new VoIP rules today, under which the VoIP players are bound to provide comprehensive information about their services and accessibility during the emergency.

This is first major VoIP law in UK, which will come into force in the month of June. Under the new rules, the VoIP providers must give clear cut information to the customers whether they are able to provide emergency services to them or not. They should also explain whether they provide directory assistance and access to an operator. Now customers can demand itemized list calls from the service providers.

OfCom has decided to set new rules for the VoIP services in the wake increasing number of service providers rely on powered router for net connections for their IP telephony services if power supplies are cut off. Obviously, BT is an exceptional case since it enables customers to make both landline and VoIP calls on a same phone, which does not require power supply.

VoIP is growing in UK. As per the latest market survey, the county will have more than 3 million VoIP customers by the end of this year. Therefore, it is high time for OfCom to set standard rules and regulations for the better services to the customers.

Source: voipcentral.org

Group 3 Technology (G3T) has launched a new kind of web-browser based Internet Phone service, known as VePhone. It brings free VoIP services for the customers without downloading.

The VePhone VoIP service provides customers a UK telephone number, which is portable and can be used anywhere in the world. The number is available in the companys site.

With VePhone, the customers can talk to fellow VePhone users for free. They can also make free calls to ePhone and NETePhone users. No monthly contracts, line rentals or special software.

As of now, the VePhone supports Explorer. The company plans to provide its support to Mozilla this year. The VePhone service will be officially available this month.

Read

Source: voipcentral.org

UK-based MVoIP (Mobile VoIP) service provider, Truphone has breached the gap between web and mobile VoIP by introducing a new service, which would enable the Truphone users to directly talk with the Google Talk users. See the video demonstration here.

Launched in September 2006, Truphone has emerged as one of the most popular Mobile VoIP applications brining free VoIP services to the WiFi enabled Nokia phones.

As of now, it is supporting Nokia’s E60, E61, E70 and N80 Internet Edition handsets. The company plans to add 25 more phones for its MVOIP applications by the end of this year.

In a statement, Truphone CEO, James Tagg revealed,

Interoperability between Google Talk and Truphone means the web/mobile VoIP divide has been bridged. Google Talk can call Truphone, and Truphone can call Google Talk.

The truphone is free downloadable software. The calls between Truphone headsets are always free. The recently announced Truphone-Google Talk interoperability is also free. However, the company fixes charges a little amount for other phones.The new service would attract the customers who look for VoIP and IM convergence.

Source: voipcentral.org

The popular dictum has it that no pain, ultimately no gain. The adage seems more or less appropriate for UK business enterprises when it comes to VoIP.

In its new survey, the IP Telephony Company, ShoreTel claims the UK enterprises are worried over upgradation and implementation costs of VoIP during the initial stage without considering the long term benefits of this latest technology.

The IP Company has conducted a survey of 150 network companies and IT manager to find out their changing perception towards VoIP and various constraints on the way to adoption of VoIP.

Nearly one-third of U.K. companies scare the IP technology is too expensive to install and run, while remaining seventy percent companies are focused on cost reduction before they start a project, reveals the survey.

Earlier, Ofcom has also agreed the fact that the Britons are very slow to adopt new services like VoIP and IPTV in compared to other countries.