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INDUSTRY NEWS


12 May 2008

VoIP on Wi-Fi devices 'to become more popular'


Although the technology is still in development, it is likely that voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services on mobile handsets will become popular over time, it has been claimed.

According to the Internet Telephony Services Providers' Association (ITSPA), basic mobile handsets with internet functionality will soon be able to make VoIP calls over Wi-Fi networks.

Colin Duffy, an ITSPA council member, explained that most mobile phone networks currently block this capability because of the stiff competition that VoIP provides to their own services, but he suggested that consumer demand would lead to solutions incorporating both technologies.

He said: "The proper solution to proper mobile VoIP is a dual phone – an old-fashioned cell phone that is also a VoIP phone simultaneously, so that when it picks up a Wi-Fi signal it uses that instead of the mobile (network)."

"It's still a very juvenile technology, partly because the networks and phones aren't all there yet, partly because the network operators try to stop you using it, and partly because the technologies are still a bit wacky," Mr Duffy added.<br/> <br/>According to research published last month by mobile provider T-Mobile, 42 percent of small enterprises feel that they pay too much for their mobile communications, something that mobile VoIP would help them remedy.

© 2006 Adfero Ltd.

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