Two technologies have captured the public’s imagination
Danny Bradbury
Sun
Today, Wi-Fi hotspots are used primarily by Internet users on the move. Coffee-shop users who want to surf and sip can curl up with a laptop, read the news and check their e-mail. But if technology evangelists have their way, tomorrow the same networks will be used for convenient voice calls, bringing cost savings and new service features to mobile users.
Voice over IP using Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) brings together two technologies that have captured the public’s imagination. Wi-Fi has enabled users to cut their network cables and work from anywhere, while voice over IP (VoIP) has shaken up the telephony industry. Users tired of expensive long-distance phone bills have taken to making calls over the Internet using software that converts their voice signals to Internet traffic and reassembles it at the other end.
VoIP started off purely with PC-to-PC calls using headsets, but recently companies such as Skype have made it possible for users to call regular phone numbers from their PCs, and to take calls on their computers from regular phone users, too. Now, companies like Vonage let people make and receive VoIP calls without using a PC at all.
VoWiFi gives users the benefits of both technologies by letting them use VoIP over Wi-Fi links. In the past, people wanting VoWiFi would have to create a makeshift version of it themselves. Using a wireless laptop with Skype, for example, you can make calls from anywhere with a wireless hotspot. It works, but you need a PC headset, and it’s cumbersome when you’re on the move. It’s also annoying to wait for your laptop to boot if it’s turned off.
More convenient forms of VoWiFi are on the horizon and speeding towards us quicker than you might think. Wireless equipment vendor Netgear will soon launch a Wi-Fi handset that will enable people to make and receive Skype calls when they’re in range of a wireless hotspot. Vonage conducted a trial of a Wi-Fi-capable handset in the United States last year, although it drew criticism from industry commentators over its short battery life.
But the biggest boost for VoWiFi will come in the form of traditional cellular phones with a built-in Wi-Fi capability. Currently these are thin on the ground but analyst company ABI Research believes the annual global sales of dual-mode mobile phones will exceed 100 million by 2010. Sprint in the U.S. has already promised a cellphone that will switch to VoWiFi when users are at home, for example.
“Handset makers are definitely putting Wi-Fi chipsets in handsets. The operators are ensuring that the handsets are available. It’s definitely getting there,” says Miguel Myhrer, a senior manager in the global network group at high-tech consultancy firm Accenture. “Once handsets are available and price decreases, you’ll see that take-up.”
Aside from the availability and takeup of Wi-Fi cellular handsets, the biggest barrier to adoption is the availability of Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi hotspot coverage is still patchy, making it difficult to accept calls, and even as meshed Wi-Fi networks begin offering blanket coverage in cities, overloaded access points could cause poor call quality.
Wi-Fi isn’t the only technology relevant to wireless voice.
Wimax — a nascent wireless technology offering long-range wireless coverage — will become important in the future. Bell is particularly active in this area. Last year the company teamed up with U.S.-based Clearwire, which provides wireless broadband services to customers south of the border using a precursor to Wimax. Bell is now the company’s preferred supplier of VoIP services.
“Note that Bell Canada’s move to provide VoIP will impact U.S. incumbent telcos, but not its own incumbent telco operations in Canada,” says Mike Roberts, a principal analyst at telecommunications analyst firm Informa.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
