VoIP nightmare for mobile operators

Beri said:
i did not kow that mtn stopped voip
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Are you referring to this?
MTN has already announced in South Africa that it has banned Skype and that anyone it catches using it will be charged at its voice rates. This position has neither logic nor past experience behind it.
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News to me too. All I'd heard was that they, and Vodacom of course, had contingency plans in place.
 
An example of the Hutchinson deals is 3G mobile operator 3 in the UK.
Its pitch gives a clear idea of the shift in thinking required to offer a mobile VoIP service:”Why should you pay per minute, per message, per click, per megabit? In the real world, you buy your PC, pay for broadband and that’s it. Our principle is simple – X-Series customers will only pay a flat access fee on top of their basic subscription and then what’s free to use on the internet should be free to use on mobile broadband (subject to fair usage and international roaming conditions, of course)”.
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Wonder if the marketing brains trust at Virgin are reading this (nudge)
 
Never mind Fring/Skype, the major handset manufacturers (e.g. Nokia, MS) have taken a strategic descision to include standards-based VoIP (SIP) in their core OS's. This allows VoIP calls to work as seamlessly as GSM/UMTS ones (i.e. not a seperate clunky app).

They are definately hedging their bets too.
 
Roman4604 said:
Never mind Fring/Skype, the major handset manufacturers (e.g. Nokia, MS) have taken a strategic descision to include standards-based VoIP (SIP) in their core OS's. This allows VoIP calls to work as seamlessly as GSM/UMTS ones (i.e. not a seperate clunky app).

They are definately hedging their bets too.
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I'd sooner have a clunky app that supports skype which everyone I know uses. I'm invested in skype so I really dont see switching as a viable option.
 
Well, I am guessing this will come out as a java app, same as mxit. So the problem would be, for someone to call you via this, you would have to sit there with this app open on your phone.
Seems like a non-starter unless they can run this in the background
 
bwana said:
MTN has already announced in South Africa that it has banned Skype and that anyone it catches using it will be charged at its voice rates. This position has neither logic nor past experience behind it.
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News to me too. All I'd heard was that they, and Vodacom of course, had contingency plans in place.
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I think Russell made a mistake here. MTN clearly stated that they do not chnarge data at any differential rates, although this conflicts with some reports from industry experts...
 
I have been using Fring for a while now - great App.

About keeping it open all the time... there is a wonderfull thing: a Call-Me.
When all the guys that use it send me a call me - it means load Fring. Problem solved. Yes, it's a clunky solution, but it's all in the name of saving cost.

Skype unfortunately does have the guys using it locked in, due to it's nature it would not be easy to have a SIP server.

VOIP Buster has SIP support - so easy to setup on Nokia N80 or the like.
 
All this proves is that there are still lots that can be done to make talking wireless cheaper, more efficient and less of a headache for consumers. Mobile operators either need to explore these mechanisms or stand aside for new start ups to compete. Naturally ICASA will not opt easily for more competition. The minister will crap herself ten times over...
 
antowan said:
All this proves is that there are still lots that can be done to make talking wireless cheaper, more efficient and less of a headache for consumers. Mobile operators either need to explore these mechanisms or stand aside for new start ups to compete. Naturally ICASA will not opt easily for more competition. The minister will crap herself ten times over...
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That explains the silly putty replacement for concrete action in the other thread - oops the ministerial bovinity did it again @ !CASA :D.
 
I downloaded the Pocket PC Client for Skype about a year ago. I used GPRS and through IrDA on my phone, it was fine for text chat but terrible for voice, perhaps the IR link. Tried Fring now and my Series 40 Nokia phone not supported. I have a 5140 and it works just fine so not planning to upgrade anytime soon as it suits my lifestyle. Not interested in smartphones because they are so slow and fragile and expensive. I don't believe in contracts either because I would rather buy cash. A few thousand rand for a phone seems ridiculous just because of some features. So for a large amount of people out there who still have more basic phones the networks shouldn't worry yet. It will most likely be business clients who will adopt this first. Maybe they should impose bans on VOIP on business packages...
 
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