Wi-Fi’s NEXT WAVE: VOICE OVER WIRELESS LAN

Service providers eyeing the speedy evolution of Wi-Fi might have been slow to invest because of competitive concerns. These concerns probably won't abate in the future as Wi-Fi receives a visit from voice over IP.

VoIP is a technology that now appears to be maturing rather rapidly after years of struggle to gain broad acceptance. Applying that technology to wireless LANs is still a relatively new idea, but nonetheless a concept that telcos and other traditional telecom service providers should take seriously, according to Jim Colthart, president of Winova Wireless.

Carrier response to the Wi-Fi VoIP trend has so far varied from company to company, based on their market focus or willingness to accept new innovations, said Colhart, whose firm provides wireless LAN and wireless MAN solutions to a global customer base. "Some have tried to pretend it wasn't going to happen anytime soon," he said. "Others are beginning to embrace it as a complement to small and medium-sized business strategies."

Though pricing models and service strategies probably will do much shape-shifting in the coming months and years, Colthart already sees some non-traditional service providers grabbing attention for both residential and vertical enterprise Wi-Fi VoIP. Still, "We're a long way from widespread penetration," Colthart said.

With near-term strategic and product plans from the likes of Nokia--as well as the joint venture of Proxim, Motorola and Avaya--many people in the industry believe that in the next 12 to 18 months, seamless mobile-to-Wi-Fi hand-offs will become a commercial reality. Colthart agrees, noting that integrated devices also will gradually come down in price from the fairly expensive voice-over-wireless-LAN handsets that characterize the market today.

"Costs will inevitably come down, especially as RF on chip technology takes hold in smart devices," Colthart said. He added, however, that "capability per dollar will go up dramatically."