VoIP is often considered to be a third-party threat to operators, running over the top of their networks and sucking up voice traffic revenue by offering free toll bypass for voice. But mobile VoIP can actually be more of a friend than a foe to traditional wireline operators.
“When it comes to circuit-switched networks and Wi-Fi, operators are going to want to continue to milk that cow,” said Ross Brennan, CEO at Cicero Networks, which provides fixed-mobile convergence and rich communications solutions for operators and service providers. “But there are so many cablecos, CLECs and even MVNOs that are losing traffic to incumbent cellular providers, or just simply want to get into the mobile game. There is a way to get that traffic back on their own networks.”
Cicero makes use of an SIP client that provides service replication over multiple wireless networks, both IP and cellular, to offer converged voice and messaging services plus seamless roaming.
At home, Cicero users can use their mobile phones to connect calls via an operator-provided wireless access point plugged into a broadband connection. They can also leverage Wi-Fi anywhere to make and receive calls as if calling from their own home. Meanwhile, office employees can use their mobile devices over a Wi-Fi or wired LAN, using them like cordless fixed-line telephones.
“Cable companies and rural telcos are fighting against things like an AT&T quad play,” explained Brennan. “Cicero allows them to say to users, sure, use your wireless phone, but where available (at home, in the office), why not run those minutes over our networks, saving on your more expensive wireless minutes? For operators it gives them a way to participate in the wireless story even without a wireless network, and it increases the value of their landlines.”
It’s a story that might be particularly opportunistic for cable companies, because they have a big asset in their broadband connections that continue to flourish despite mobile-landline substitution trends that are decimating rival telcos’ home POTS revenue.