Mobile networks are at last yielding to the lure of dual-mode phones and voice over Wi-Fi, as flat-rate tariffs
That's the claim of Chong-Jin Koh, the head of Nuvoiz, a wireless VoIP start-up. He said that, after years of jealously guarding their voice revenues, some carriers have now realised that as average revenue per user (ARPU) moves to a flat rate, it's cheaper to offload call delivery onto Wi-Fi.
"Dual-mode phones will explode over the next five years," he said. "Skype and others are going mobile too, though they're mainly targeting consumers."
The dual-mode approach is especially interesting for mobile carriers which also have Wi-Fi networks. An early Nuvoiz customer is Yozan, which Koh said operates the largest Wi-Fi/WiMax network in Japan, and he added that Orange and Telia-Sonera - both of which have extensive hotspot networks - also have plans for dual-mode.
The main target though is enterprise users - they already have wireless LANs in place, and they want to cut their call costs, Koh said.
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.... Some carriers will therefore look for VoIP routes that are compatible with today's handsets, hence O2's plan to put GSM nanocells into home broadband routers