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T-Mobile CEO says wVoIP won't catch on
The boss at T-Mobile says he doesn't think wireless VoIP is going to be as big a hit as computer-based VoIP. Hamid Akhavan, CEO of T-Mobile International, told a reporter at the 3GSM World Congress that mobile VoIP has a bunch of issues to overcome, among them the resolution of IP addresses, emergency service and pricing. The good news (for him): he doesn't think that mobile VoIP is going to hit his bottom line very hard. Between what he anticipates will be a low pick-up rate and the money he'll make from selling data plans, he might be right. Remember, Skype promised a year ago that they'd have a mobile client, but confessed recently that development was proving much more difficult than expected.
For more information about T-Mobile and mobile VoIP:
- read this article from Infoworld
Comments
Posted by T. Regan | February 16, 2007 - 2:12pm
Wow, it is really shocking to see the CEO of a major cellular company being so short sighted.
True, wireless VoIP won't take off in the current environment; but, as newer converged devices (such as Apple's iPhone) start to take off, having a phone that can transition between wireless and LAN networks will become much more desirable.
A forward thinking Wireless CEO would be pushing this convergence, not standing in the way.
Poor internal coverage has always been the bane of the Wireless industry? Converged Wireless/WiFi devices solve the problem of poor coverage inside buildings (without the expense of repeaters and micro cellular networks).
It is shocking and sad that at this late stage, the power brokers of this business continue to thwart obvious opportunities.
To the forward thinking oft go the spoils of business warfare. Looks like TMobile isn't going to be in the fight.
-T. Regan
Vice President
GTC Wireless
Posted by Nokia Analyst | February 16, 2007 - 3:29pm
I agree with Mr. Regan. I think it is time for T-Mobile International to find someone a bit more in tune with reality to head that business. He apparently doesn't even know what his own firm is doing to advance the muni WiFi and WiMax spaces.
I applaude T-Mobile for its insight in investing in the non-cellular technologies but at the same time they need to weed out the short-sighted types such as Hamid.
Posted by Charlotte Wolter | August 13, 2007 - 4:03pm
What the CEO says publicly and what he really thinks may be two quite different things. The CEO is speaking to a wide audience, which includes lawmakers. It is in the CEO's interest to sound as positive as possible about his own technology (3G) and as negative as possible about a rival technology (the Internet over Wi-Fi). Politicians like to go with whatever they believe to be the flow. So, the CEO wants to make them think things are flowing his way. He knows that the only way to prevent Wi-Fi and wireless Internet from stealing his business is to get lawmakers to cooperate in slowing it down. He certainly can't fight it with a better product. So he has to get them to help him. Hence, the public posturing about the (supposed) unpopularity and inferiority of VoIP. He knows they truth, but he won't say it until it's safe for T-Mobile.
Which, by the way, might be some time. T-Mobile has invested heavily in 3G, so they have a wring whatever they can from it.
Charlotte Wolter
Posted by mathiastck | July 1, 2008 - 4:13pm
Just wanted to point out that T-Mobile is a major offerer of VOIP, with Hotspot at Home, esp in the US.
Posted by Anonymous | July 9, 2008 - 12:17pm
People could do well to listen carefully to what T-Mobile says, and then plan on the exact opposite.
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