The Versatility and Value of VoIP

For two back-to-back weeks in October, thanks to what were surely two entirely separate and serendipitous acts of conference scheduling, the telecom industry got a fairly comprehensive look at the potential for convergence that exists between wireless and voice over IP.

At the Voice on the Net show in Boston, VoIP providers explained how Wi-Fi technology is becoming an increasingly important part of their strategies. Even VON founder Jeff Pulver said in the event’s kickoff keynote speech that the intersection of Wi-Fi and VoIP represents one of the biggest new opportunities in the VoIP sector. A week later in San Francisco, at CTIA’s Wireless IT & Entertainment event, conversation that was not focused on mobile multimedia was dedicated to wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw’s WiMAX initiatives with Intel, the rapid proliferation of Wi-Fi and the role that voice applications will play in all of it.

Even though the two events were clearly unrelated, the timing was advantageous. It was as though the industry--or at least those constituents of it present at or closely following those two events--got an unanticipated yet fairly complete overview of Wi-Fi/VoIP integration and the myriad strategies and possibilities the technology combination presents. What’s more, it occurred without the usual undercurrent of competitive conflict that typically accompanies such discussion. Virtually no one thinks VoIP over Wi-Fi (which could benefit from a more succinct or acronym-friendly descriptor, incidentally) is at all competitive with cellular voice services, just as no one thinks the prevalence of mobile wireless voice will prevent the uptake of or business case for VoIP over Wi-Fi applications.

The potential that exists in the integration of Wi-Fi and VoIP, along with an overview of some VoIP service provider strategies for taking advantage of it, is the topic of this month’s cover story by Kevin Fitchard (see “VoIP Cuts the Cord” on page 22). It’s not a typical Wireless Review cover story, both in the sense that it’s not a story about mobile technology or applications, per se, and also because it doesn’t home in on the efforts of one particular company. (Look for more on that editorial strategy shift in this space next month, when I’ll map out WR’s strategic direction for 2005 and the major editorial overhauls we have planned.) Instead, Fitchard’s story probes the promise and problems that exist for all involved parties at the VoIP/Wi-Fi intersection, then explores how various companies are tackling the challenges.

The concept of wireline/wireless integration is one that has long been discussed, dissected and even discarded at times (only to come back strong under the oft-overhyped power of a new technology development). Perhaps VoIP--with its openness, flexibility, capability and economy--represents just the technological unifier required to finally make true integration a reality.