Grudgingly Accepting VoWiFi

Wireless

from the yeah,-okay,-let's-try dept

There are a number of different challenges facing telcos (both wired and wireless) in the coming years, and two of the big ones are VoIP and WiFi. Increasingly, the combo of the two (VoWiFi) is stirring up a lot of interest. While the possibilities are interesting, it might not be a bandwagon to get too excited about just yet. As the article above mentions, mobile carriers are finally agreeing to move towards offering VoWiFi, but they’re doing it with great reluctance — and most of the early offerings are noticeably crippled. More importantly, however, is the question of just how much benefit there is to VoWiFi phones. WiFi networks still don’t do handoffs and roaming all that well, meaning VoWiFi becomes more of a station to station type of system, rather than a true mobile system — which is a serious limitation for many. Also, many mobile phone plans now offer near flat rate (huge buckets of minutes) deals — meaning there are little to no savings for end users by routing calls over the internet. That’s not to say it doesn’t have it’s place. It is, clearly, a space to watch, but it’s unlikely to put any carriers out of business in the near future.