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Why Are You Mad At Cellular Carriers?
It has away been a little puzzling to me that Mobile VoIP providers never ventured to guess that as the technology progressed, they would eventually get shut down by cellular carriers. After all, Mobile VoIP providers are “stealing” from cellular carriers. They are stealing the carriers bandwidth, and they are stealing their customers. If a company came along, used your infrastructure to take your customers, would you not do everything in your power to shut them down? I would.
No one likes a liar, and no one likes a theif. Mobile VoIP providers are nothing but theifs to cellular providers. Sure it sounds harsh - but that is the truth. Mobile VoIP providers really need to re-think their strategies (has everyone in the VoIP world forgotten about “partnerships”?) and look to working with the cellular carriers, rather than disrupting them, or they will follow the same fate as the single play residential VoIP providers: Death by carrier.
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Agreed, the Mobile VoIP companies are disruptive to telco’s - but who said that mobile internet connections suddenly two-tiered? skype is disruptive to Telco’s as well, but if my CableCo started blocking skype people would riot. I am not sure that letting Telco’s groom us to believe that wireless internet access is any different than any other internet connection is a good idea.
Andrew:
I certainly do agree with you when you say that we should not let Telco’s groom us…but I do believe their is a distinct difference between wireless internet access and a regular internet connection.
Wireless internet access is relatively new, and is not the “bread ‘n butter” of the cellular carriers, voice is. Wireless internet access is just a value add that cellular carriers provide. From my cellular background, there is a distinct feeling that cellular carriers “own” networks, therefore controling them.
The Internet, as we have been groomed to believe is open, but this primarily because in order for the Internet to work, it needs to have ever network interconnected. This is different from Wireless internet access where the cellular carrier owns and controls their network (and coverage area), and can choose to connect to the Internet or not - or choose who can do what.
I don’t feel sorry for Mobile VoIP providers. These guys should have known better than to think cellular carriers would give them (an their customers) open access.
I disagree Garrett - Wireless Data (Internet or otherwise) represents nearly all of the wireless carriers profits in the EU/EMEA and soon in NA.
When you break it down, pretty much anything that travels over the wireless network, GSM or CDMA (really doesn’t matter) is one form of data or another. They syntax of the messages really doesn’t matter. SMS (another form of two tiered wireless access) represents an incredibly highly profitable piece of a Telco’s revenue. A message that is no more than 10kb is charged in some cases at $0.10, that works out to nearly $800.00 a MB !!! - on the network; whereas voice might only net them in the 3-4cent/MB range, Voice is a loss leader for most mobile providers. Believe me, carriers are terrified of intelligent endpoint solutions, as they have the ability to seriously disrupt the apple cart, which is why they are disabling VoIP stacks on new phones such as the N95. People are slowly waking up to the reality that carriers have been crippling all sorts of features on wireless devices for years (mostly bluetooth/wifi) so they can continue to reap insane profits from data - by not allowing people to use them as modems etc. The petition that skype has introduced to the FCC is a good example of what legislature needs to be enacted to protect consumers and ensure net neutrality. Jeff Pulver has a good analysis of it here. http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/006437.html
Cellular companies buy frequency from FCC? Wireless VoIP providers buy frequency from FCC? Don’t tell me cellular companies operate on unlicensed frequency(ies) the FCC set aside for everyone to own and use. Don’t tell me VoIP providers operate on unlicensed frequency(ies) the FCC set aside for everyone to own and use. Do tell me what is going on. Please.
tompoe:
I don’t know of any Mobile VoIP provider who owns frequency - they are simply using the cellular providers frequency that a user gains access to with a data plan.
Also, there are many a VoIP service provider who do not provide Internet access. They, as the Mobile VoIP providers, “ride” on some else’s network.
Andrew:
I believe the crippling is much more taboo in Europe than in the US. From the outset cellular providers have been dictating which device you can and can’t use with their service.
Not that this is right, but it is the way it is now, and in my eyes the foreseeable future. Again, Mobile VoIP providers should have known this was going to happen…and from the outset approached carriers with a “here’s what’s in it for you” mentality, instead of the disruptor approach. They would have saved a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.
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