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INTERNET TELEPHONY SET TO GO MOBILE
Mark Odell
Kate Mackenzie

Internet telephony over mobile phones took centre stage at the 3GSM World Congress mobile phone conference in Barcelona last week, with two announcements signalling that the mobile phone industry is waking up to the potentially disruptive technology coming its way.
Internet voice is going mobile,» said Jorma Ollila, Nokia chief executive, on Monday as the world's biggest maker of mobile handsets unveiled its first mass market model capable of supporting voice-over-internet protocol. VoIP is the emerging technology that offers cheap calls to users by routing them over the internet, instead of traditional phone networks. The Nokia 6136 is also «dual-mode»: as well as working on mobile GSM networks, it can connect to small wireless networks known as WiFi, which unlike mobile phone networks operate in unregulated spectrum.

Nokia's rival, Motorola of the US, is working on a similar handset and other manufacturers from the mobile industry and those on the periphery, such as Compaq and HP, are working on pocket devices that will support VoIP and WiFi.
In another move underpinning the rapid transformation of the telecoms industry in the digital age, Skype announced last week a tie-up with 3, Hutchinson Whampoa's mobile businesses.
Skype, which was acquired by eBay last year, has become synonymous with the disruptive potential of VoIP. The 75m users of Skype's computer software can talk to each other for free, once they have paid a monthly bill for broadband access.
Calls to fixed-line phones from Skype are very cheap compared with rates from traditional telecoms operators; however calls to mobile phones can sometimes be more expensive. Fixed-line operators accept that the spread of broadband, which has a flat-fee payment model and enables good quality internet telephony, will only increase the pressure on traditional voice revenues from per-minute charges.
About a dozen large mobile operators are «actively» looking at offering VoIP-based services, according to one senior industry figure. However, the Skype/Hutchinson deal illustrates that Skype is trying to move away from being seen predominantly as a means of free calls, and instead as a source of value-added features, such as messaging and contacts lists, for computer and mobile phone users....
Mobile operators are increasingly adopting the US model of offering «buckets» of minutes for voice and data access to their networks, and with upgrades to 3G networks promising better efficiency and capacity, some industry executives believe that mobile phone users will increasingly pay a flat monthly rate for network access, replicating the fixed-line broadband model.

At that point, the difference between voice and data traffic for mobile operators will disappear and increasingly voice traffic will be carried via a VoIP client over 3G networks.
Also, mobile operators believe that services such as TV, music downloads, e-mail, and navigation, will develop as new revenue streams to offset the decline of voice revenues.
While Skype and other VoIP software alone might not disrupt mobile operators as much as some predict over the coming years, technological developments will mean competition for operators will intensify.

MARK ODELL AND KATE MACKENZIE
Tratto dal «Financial Times» del 20 febbraio


  • Broadband access: accesso alla banda larga
  • Buckets: grandi quantità (lett.: secchi, cesti, canestri)
  • Cheap calls: chiamate a basso costo
  • Chief executive: amministratore delegato
  • Digital age: era digitale
  • Dual mode: modalità duale
  • Fixed-line broadband model: modello della banda larga sulla rete fissa Fixed-line operators: operatori di rete fissa
  • Fixed-line phones: telefoni su rete fissa
  • Flat-fee payment model: modello di pagamento a canone fisso
  • Flat monthly rate: canone fisso mensile
  • Free calls: chiamate gratuite
  • Internet telephony: telefonia via internet
  • Internet voice: voce via internet
  • Maker: produttore
  • Mass-market model: modello destinato al mercato di massa
  • Mobile handsets: microtelefoni mobili/cellulari
  • Mobile phone: telefono mobile/cellulari
  • Mobile phone networks: reti della telefonia mobile
  • Monthly bill: bolletta mensile
  • Per-minute charges: addebiti al minuto
  • Phone networks: reti telefoniche
  • Pocket devices: strumenti tascabili
  • Rates: costi
  • Telecoms industry: industria delle telecomunicazioni
  • 3G networks: reti 3G
  • 3GSM: GSM di terza generazione
  • Users: utenti
  • Voice and data access: accesso per traffico voce e dati
  • Voice revenues: ricavi da traffico voce
  • Wireless networks: reti senza fili