Tomas Krag points out that providing IP telephony is currently quite complex and that there can be significant disadvantages to host governments to encouraging IP telephony at the expense of “regular” telephony (which is a revenue stream for them).
Don Cameron (donhome (at) mudgeeab.com.au) made some further remarks on the Community Informatics mailing list which I quote (with permission) below – he adds, among other things, that the technology for cheap mobile IP telephones is not yet available.
In the spirit of the ‘motherhood statement’ discussion I feel some
qualification might be required to Howard Rheingold’s interpretation of
IP-based telephony…Assuming we are talking about a telephone able to call any other telephone,
VoIP telephony over a WiFi remains horribly expensive – this is not due to
charges placed by our Telco’s; it relates to the cost of the required
hardware (VoIP telephones and multi-channel call-processors etc). Plus a
WiFi VoIP network only extends the ‘free call’ scenario as far as the Wifi
coverage area… calls beyond this boundary are subject to normal Telco call
costs, and considering that most WiFi’s don’t extend beyond the boundaries
of a Telco local-call zone the savings are only marginal and would rarely
cover the cost of the required specialised equipment . Also VoIP does not
work well with Facsimiles (OK, why send a fax when you have Email? – legal
documents is one reason) and VoIP is yet to provide any viable alternative
to a mobile phone… no free lunches here yet.If we assume VoIP to be limited to communications between people equipped
with computers and connected to the same WiFi network… then we really
don’t need VoIP at all (a simple handset and Netmeeting works just as well).
Calls to people on other WiFi networks requires registering and paying for
world-mappable IP addresses; something most WiFi’s don’t provide because of
the cost (although this is sometimes provided by a commercial WISP).I am not suggesting that the future of telecoms is not VoIP over a WiFi;
just that it’s far from being an economical reality today.
The need for WiFi VoIP products won’t be driven by peer-to-peer calls or the lure of toll bypass, but rather a business need for mobile connectivity to the PBX/PSTN. In the world of commerce, there is a strong need to be away from the desk yet accessible to the PSTN. This is true of retail managers, doctors, nurses, educators, etc… That’s what will drive WiFi VoIPl
Comment by Richard Watson — 16 September 2003 @ 6:05 pm
We have a wonderful Wireless VoIP mobile phone system for places where there is no DSL and no infrastructures.
It can reach from 5 to 15 km. depending on frequency, up to 90 users for every base station, the local calls are free, the national and International are VoIP calls when the base station is connected to the Net.
The cost is very low (a base station is around US $1500) and many base stations can roam, covering in this way a big territory.
See my project for Africa at
http://www.worldonip.com/project.htm
Patrizia
patrizia@worldonip.com
Comment by Patrizia — 22 June 2004 @ 5:25 pm
Riptari Returneth, Vietnam Internet Expandeth
I’m back from an unwelcome web log respite, feeling a bit out of practice this morning. Hopefully the new Danger
Trackback by riptari filter — 3 February 2003 @ 3:17 pm
Kenny’s Straw Man?
David Brake at blog.org says Charles Kenny addresses a straw man in the recent Foreign Policy article criticizing developmental aid
Trackback by riptari filter — 7 February 2003 @ 3:36 pm