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.
[...] Now then, remember last week when I wrote of T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan: 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. [...]
check this out…
[... ] Amazing story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one find out about Mid East has got more problerms in addition [... ]……
Recommeneded Websites…
[... ]Here are a few of the sites we recommend pertaining to our visitors[... ]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[... ]please see the sites we adhere to, including this one, as it represents our picks through the web[... ]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw a writer writing about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
This Week in Automobile News…
[...]here are some links to web sites worth checking out[...]…
SEO Marketing got me First Page Results…
[...]just below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are definitely worth visiting[...]…
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
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 [...]……
Car Warranty News…
[...]the time to check out the content or checking out we have linked to below the[...]…
computer recycling…
[...]check out the content or web sites we have [...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
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 [...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
Check this out…
[...] that is the end of this article. Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[...]……
Automotive News and Reviews…
[...]just below, are some interesting websites[...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
desktop disposal…
[...]just underneath, are some totally unrelated pages to ours, however, they are definitely worth checking out[...]…
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
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 [...]……
Wikia…
Wika linked to this site…
FoxTec has the best parts online…
[...]just underneath, are some totally unrelated web sites to ours, however, they are definitely worth checking out[...]…
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[...]……
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article is some of the best available [...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Cool sites…
[...]we came across a cool site that you might enjoy. Take a look if you want[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
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[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Gems from the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Looking around…
While I was surfing today I saw a excellent post about…
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[...]……
Sites we Like……
[...] Every once in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose [...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
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[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……