Ran across this Macworld story, in which T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan presents his “so-so, so what” thoughts about fixed-mobile VoIP. There are almost too many things wrong with this story to even count them. Here are a few of his quotes, with my commentary interspersed:
“There are all sorts of technical issues that make mobile VOIP services difficult to implement,” he said. Technical issues related to how networks pass on IP addresses of mobile users have not been completely resolved, he noted. “Take reachability, for example: How can the call come to me?”
What is this guy talking about? Seriously. SIP takes care of locating a mobile endpoint at layer 3 and above. The infrastructure can be plain-vanilla IP and wireless Ethernet. It’s not at all “difficult” to do roaming, which is what I believe he’s talking about. His comment is motivated by the underlying problem of passing calls between GSM and SIP, which is more of a political/revenue management problem than it is a technical one. The technologies exist today. What Hamid isn’t saying is that he can’t think of a reliable way not to bleed T-Mobile red in the process of implementing them. And not because they’re expensive, but because he can’t figure out how to charge for something that, in his mind, is supposed to be free. This is 1.0 thinking.
Akhavan also said emergency phone service and “always on” connectivity are also big issues, since staying online takes up bandwidth on pricey mobile networks.
Not in a bring-your-own bandwidth scenario. A WiFi-equipped T-Mobile phone wouldn’t have this problem as long as it was within range of radio ethernet. But again, with the T-Mobile Hot Spot idea failing to really gain traction, it’s clear that Akhavan has given up on the idea of a metropolitan, voice-grade WiFi build-out, as have a lot of people. As for the always-on comment, the cell network should be a backup plan, for when you take your phone on hunting trips and long drives through the middle of nowhere. Meshes and long-range WiFi (and even WiMax) radio systems can cover the urban areas, if only somebody has the balls to DO IT. Apparently, as if we didn’t realize it already, this would be an indication that T-Mobile doesn’t have those balls.
“When people talk about VOIP, they think free,” Akhavan said. “With any mobile service provided over the Internet, you’re going to need to buy a data package.”
Hamid just stated the solution and he didn’t even realize it: Stop charging stupidly extortionist fees for mobile data access, and more people will move to VoIP. More people would also subscribe to mobile data services, incidentally.
Mobile VoIP “will take a small share” of revenue generated by mobile voice services, he said.
Akhavan’s views on the technical and commercial hurdles are shared even by some of the key advocates of mobile VOIP, including Skype.
Translation: we spent billions on a network to compete against all the other dinosaur carriers because we didn’t have the foresight to recognize all the benefits of building our network using IP instead. The Skype comment almost seems like a way of trying to save face, as if somehow, if an all-IP player like Skype is frustrated with the state of things, the Hamid’s frustration will be validated. Truth is, Skype is frustrated that your network sucks, Mr. Akhavan. There’s not enough IP on your network (or any cell player’s network) to support applications that exist in the IP domain, like Skype. So when Niklas complains, he’s really complaining about YOU.
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Booblebog…
I found this really amazing post today…
Watch desperate scousewives…
I found this really informative post today…
investera i guld…
[...]f I as well as my guys happened to be reading through the best secrets from t z3[...]…
Wow!…
A very spectacular post….
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
abject…
I bookmared your internet site a short time back coz your site impresses myself….
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Beauty Products…
I found this really brilliant post today…
North Carolina and Charlotte Politics…
I found this really brilliant post today…
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
aboulia…
The line of demarcation must be violence. Anyone convicted of violent crime should serve their full sentence and the sentence must be commensurate to the crime….
Trabalho para o amanhã – um olhar de Yesturdays em alguns exemplos…
Observado este exemplo, através de arnold Messer sobre Twitter e imagine-o para ser muito informativo e demasiado o ponto…
iphone repairs…
I found this really informative post today…
Online Articles…
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
abroad…
Here are some, these templates are the easy to edit and manage and free or very affordable….
MMA Gear…
I found this really interesting post today…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Wow!…
A very fascinating post….
valentines gift ideas for her…
I found this really informative post today…
abas…
women canada goose solaris parka military greenGreat fall colors for this UGG boot style include cream,canada goose trillium parka black for women…
thrush treatment…
I found this really good post today…
aade…
The 100% merino sheepskin ugg boots were once considered by native people as “ug”,billig ugg boots short for “ugly” for nearly 200 years.ugg ultra short nuss…
Wera Tools…
I found this really brilliant post today…
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……