Mobile VoIP

Grinch Optus implements Christmas Eve mobile VoIP cutoff

Doug Mohney — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:19:11 -0500

Playing the role of Scrooge, Optus abruptly cut off VoIP calling over its mobile phone service on Christmas Eve. It was a great way to make a point to its customers, who expected to make overseas phone calls during the holiday without having to pay higher international rates.

The company informed its customers via text message that it would no longer pay local mobile-to-mobile rates for Internet services that made overseas phone calls. Customers had embraced the service, giving them rates of around a penny (AUS) per minute; Optus's prepaid-mobile users instead get charged 29 cents (AUS) per minute for existing international rates.

Optus competitors Telstra, Vodafone, and 3 all allow their customers to use mobile VoIP services.

The new policy has cut into mobile VoIP provider Freedom Calls's traffic by at least 50 percent. A company spokesperson said the company was connecting between 15,000 to 20,000 minutes of international calls per day, but now is only mustering 6,000 to 7,000 minutes.

For more:
- Optus playing the Grinch - without the happy ending. Article

EQO - Another mobile VoIP player bites the dust?

Doug Mohney — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:28:16 -0500

Techvibes is fingering EQO Communications as the next mobile VoIP player to go down; this despite the company's CEO citing strong user growth, and blaming job cuts initiated last month for two-thirds of the company on the economic environment.

EQO is reportedly closing down because the VCs aren't willing to fork over more cash. In remarks made last month to GigaOm, EQO CEO Bill Tam said that the October layoffs would let the company operate at "near profitability... until the smoke clears."

Guess the (economic downturn) smoke choked the company to death.

Techvibe observed EQO's web pages were cleansed of the management team over the weekend - not really a good sign anyone is home to take phone calls. We've also heard a couple of bits and pieces to make us think EQO was running out of operating capital in November.

EQO seems to be joining an ever-growing list of failed me-too mobile VoIP plays that includes Fring, Jangl, and TalkPlus. Expect at least one or two more to join the list by the end of the year.

For more:
- Techvibe scoops on EQO running out of coin. Post.

Fring cuts 20%, claims biz surging, blogger bashes

Doug Mohney — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:38:01 -0500

Ah yes, Fring, another me-too mobile VoIP start-up play starts laying off people, while trying to convince everyone else to "Don't worry, be happy." With apologies to Bobby McFerrin.

TechCrunch says Fring is laying off 10 people, about 20 percent of total staff (so they had 50 people before the axe came). CEO Avi Schechter says the company is doing well and the layoffs were to insure the company had enough capital to get them through 2009. And oh-by-the-way, we have raised a third round of financing, but can't tell you how much was invested or who invested it; Fring had previously raised $13 million over two previous rounds.

Fring recently cut a deal with Mobilkom Austria to put their client onto phones and claims they are seeing 400,000 new downloads and activations per month. But FMC/UC blogger/guru Ken Camp says he has tried to run the service on numerous devices and has encountered nothing but pain, suffering, and reboots.

If Fring did secure another round of investment capital, we suspect Mobilkom Austria is on the list of contributors.

For more:
- Ken Camp dishes on his bad experiences with Fring. Blog.
- Meanwhile, TechCrunch bites down on Fring's personnel cut. Post.

Nimbuzz, mig33 work to differentiate out of mobile VoIP pack

Doug Mohney — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:16:20 -0500

Nimbuzz and mig33 made announcements over the past seven days to posture themselves as A) Different from everyone else and B) Growing despite all the other "me too" cheap mobile VoIP offerings in the marketplace.

Joining the iPhone/iPod Touch crowd, Nimbuzz has release a free app available through the iPhone App store. The app lets users call, chat and IM through a laundry list of IM communities and social networks, including Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber. IM buddy calling over WiFi is available to Yahoo, Google Talk, Skype and Windows Live Messenger. And if that's not enough, there's also support for local social networks in Germany, The Netherlands and Poland.

Current numbers posted by Nimbuzz include over 10 million logins per day and it claims to be adding new users at a clip of more than 10,000 per day.

Meanwhile, mig33 says it has doubled its user base from 9 million back in January to 18 million today. Like everyone else, you can IM through it, make cheap long-distance calls, yadda-yadda. Most of the growth is occurring overseas, and the company is doubling-down by providing support for Bengali, simplified Chinese, English, Hindi, Indonesian and Russian.

So how many IM/mobile VoIP/cheap phone call plays can the world support? There's iSkoot, Raketu, Nimbuzz, mig33, Truphone, Skype and that's before we even start sweating hard. Plus, Yahoo and Microsoft and different variants within AIM and GoogleTalk.

For more:
- VoIP News talks about mig33

FCC issues E911 regs, but mobile VoIP a headache

Doug Mohney — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:15:01 -0400

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued regulations this week for VoIP service providers to offer enhanced 911 (E911) call services to all customers, as required under the New And Emerging Technologies (NET911) Improvement Act of 2008.

Under the NET 911 Act, interconnected VoIP providers have the obligation to provide 911 and E911 services in accordance with existing FCC requirements. In addition, each interconnected VoIP provider has the right, like any other carrier, to access capabilities from other carriers to deliver 911/E911 services.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is concerned that there's no specific guidance on what capabilities could be used to help determine the origin of a 911 call; this is a big deal with mobile VoIP customers when they roam outside of their service provider's footprint. Without "last known call" information included in some fashion, there's not enough data to provide to the appropriate public safety officials to send help.

Other FCC Commissions disagree, saying that the FCC order reflects the language and intent of the NET 911 act and that it is too early to lock into last-known call as a required technology before the public safety community and the FCC have had a better look at other options.

Cell phone and VoIP providers are already required to offer 911 and E911 services, but mobile IP phone service adds another complication because a client is not tied into a specific location or cellular system that could be used to locate the caller. The NET 911 Act extends existing 911 service requirements for wireless providers to mobile VoIP providers.

For more:
- Government Computer News coverage of FCC's 911 wireless VoIP rules. Article.

SPOTLIGHT: Skype like WiMAX

Doug Mohney — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:06:42 -0400

Skype COO Scott Durchslag said the company is looking to extend its business operations from PCs to mobile devices (OK, with 3 and an Java-based mobile client, no big secret there), with WiMAX as one technology where Skype services might have potential.
While in Taiwan, Durchslag said WiMAX was a "different case," since it was just another application across a data-loving network; on cellular networks, it competes with cell dollars. Durchslag was visiting Taiwan to seek opportunities between Skype and Taiwanese makers of handsets and mobile devices.

For more:
- DIGITIMES stalks Skype COO in Taiwan. Post.

Related articles
Skype's mobilized phone play - FierceVoIP
3 Mobile and Skype collaborate on VoIP phone

SPOTLIGHT: Fring integrates mobile VoIP client with carrier

Doug Mohney — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:06:27 -0400

Some mobile VoIP players actually have a business plan beyond "If we build it, they will come." It appears fring is one of them, as the company has established a relationship to put its client on some of Telekom Austria mobilkom's phones.

In the arrangement, fring will create a custom version of its VoIP client to support Mobilkom's A1 service over IP. The first version will be on the Nokia S60, and the mobilkom client, like any standard fring client, will be able to use any Internet connection. Since mobilkom supports SIP natively, users will get both voice and IM in one package along with the social media aspects. The client is expected to be available in mid-November.

For more:
- Ars Technica blog on fring working with Austria's mobilkom.
- Telegeography post on the fring/mobilkom partnership

Vyke 3Q numbers boost shares

Doug Mohney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:05:25 -0400

UK-based Vyke Communications's third quarter numbers have boosted the company's stock price for today. At press time, Vyke's stock was up 3.5 percent and had peaked at almost 5 percent up early today.

Vyke says it is on track to become EBIDTA and cash flow positive on an ongoing month by month basis by the end of the year. It reports 1.8 million customers, an increase of 326 percent compared to 3Q 2007. It has been adding customers at an average of 14,000 per day since 2004. The company says it has a "strong start" with twenty-one Fortune 500 companies participating in its pilot mobile VoIP projects.

Late in September, Vyke sold off its declining calling card business to Direct Connect International and expects to get $1.65 million over the next three years on an earn-out basis; the sale also freed up $50K per month in assorted equipment, hosting and legal expenses.

From a business perspective, Vyke has avoided the "me too" trap of many mobile/web VoIP companies. It has aggressively adopted a Wi-Fi strategy and has a targeted marketing strategy to bring Asian expats onboard.

For more:
- Proactive Investor reports on Vyke share prices up on 3Q numbers

EQO – Latest of the Voice/Phone 2.0 facing imminent disaster

Doug Mohney — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:10:46 -0400

Canadian-based EQO communications has cut back its staff from 35 to 12 employees. Is it the latest unfortunate canary in the coal mine?

EQO was/is a VoIP/social networking play offering a free application that provides free IM, cheap calling and cheap texting to your mobile phone. The problem is EQO was like about a dozen other companies on the market with the same business plan triangle of free client/cheap calls/on mobile phones, including Jangl, Jajah and TalkPlus.

EQO may have lasted longer than Jangl and TalkPlus to this point, because it managed to raise $13 million in venture capital to Jangl's $9 million and TalkPlus's $5.5 million. Jajah, on the other hand, figured out it is better to play with the big boys by providing outsourced VoIP services to the likes of Yahoo and others.

For many start-ups - VoIP and others - tightening credit markets translate to swim (make money) or die. Regrettably, many VoIP start-ups lost sight of the prime lesson out of the dot.com/dot.bomb era: Cash flow positive is not a luxury. EQO won't be the last company yielding to the ax over the next quarter.

For more:
- Techvibes reports on EQO staff cuts
- GigaOm speculates on what might happen to EQO and other VoIP startups

Mobile VoIP's latest thumbs-up

Doug Mohney — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:05:58 -0400

Mobile VoIP advances get a big thumbs up for the ability to cut costs by routing calls through the Internet. Enthusiasm for mobile VoIP is being fed by a proliferation of options on a large variety of phones.

A Dial-a-Phone blog post states that mobile VoIP's best days are yet to come with a tightening economy and people going into penny-pinch mode. Mobile VoIP delivers the option for free and/or low-cost calling between cell phones and from cell phones to landlines.

The new 802.11r standard may help proliferate mobile VoIP on the enterprise side; 802.11r allows for a standardized way to quickly transfer calls between access points without dropping them. Unfortunately, there isn't a discussion on how some companies have decided to live with call dropping and have already moved forward with FMC solutions.

Nokia and Skype also earn mentions. Nokia's issue with supporting VoIP on the N series of phones is chewed on again while Skype's beta of a mobile Java-based app wins good brownie points.

For more:
- Check out the mobile VoIP piece on the Dial-a-Phone website

EQO supports BlackBerry Bold

Doug Mohney — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:59:39 -0400

EQO has announced it is releasing an enhanced version of its mobile VoIP/multi-network IM software to support the newly announced BlackBerry Bold smartphone.

The new software release enables Blackberry Bold users to run voice and data services simultaneously, so they can IM and make calls at the same time. It also leverages the Bold's dual-mode capability to automatically switch from 3G to WiFi whenever it is in range of a WiFi hotspot.

EQO currently operates in more than 200 countries, and its Mobile VoIP/IM solution operates on everything from LG and HTC phones to Nokia and Samsung devices. Dual-mode support and the capability to support both voice and IM at the same time will likely win over more enterprise customers, but it remains to be seen if this is a big enough differentiator to set it apart from all the other mobile VoIP providers around the globe.

For more:
- EQO's Marketwatch press release announcing support for Bold

Related articles
EQO Slashes Mobile Roaming Costs
iPhone VoIP Options

Car-Fi and VoIP

Doug Mohney — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:43:15 -0400

Microsoft is testing WiFi usage in vehicles, an effort that is shedding new light on public wireless networks and how VoIP calls might get transmitted - or not.

Testing is being conducted around Seattle, and the biggest advantage to tapping into a community WiFi network is lower cost of access. Plus, every mobile device has built-in WiFi these days .

However, WiFi has a big problem with hand-offs between base stations; not so good for an in-progress VoIP call over a cheaper WiFi network. (You may queue your WiMAX commercial here in a limited number of second-tier U.S. markets). There's also the assumption that there's a nice big WiFi network available for use; the muni WiFi market has had its ups and downs of late.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Washington and Microsoft have worked up a solution to talk to multiple access points at once. The "Vi-Fi" (Vehicle WiFi) system would treat one access point as an "anchor" primary reception point and use other base stations in the system as auxiliary paths. Some tricky math allows the system to figure out the chance a packet received by an auxiliary base station wasn't received by the anchor; if true, the aux base station relays the packet to the anchor as a backup.

For more:
- Seattle P-I newspaper reports on Microsoft Vi-Fi research efforts. Article

Related articles
Chrysler offers WiFi-equipped SUV and minivan
Wireless penetration will reach 300 percent

Gizmo5 Defends Nokia VoIP Intentions

Doug Mohney — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:43:19 -0400

In an email CC'ed to FierceVoIP, Gizmo5 CEO Michael Robertson comes to defend the honor of Nokia with tech talk.

Robertson, also the founder of Linspire, MP3tunes and REEF, has never been shy about sharing his opinions. In the letter, addressed to Om Malik of GigaOm fame, Robertson says the Nokia N78 phone runs the latest version of the Symbian operating system, which changes how VoIP is supported in the OS framework.

"It actually adds more VOIP support to the OS so developers will need to do less work to build VOIP capable programs. This means that VOIP software which previously worked with Symbian 3.0 and 3.1 devices such as Gizmo will not run on these devices without being altered to account for this new VOIP structure."

Robertson goes on to say work is underway to make Gizmo compatible with Symbian 3.2, which will enable VoIP calls on devices such as the N78. He also points out that Nokia is nice enough to feature Gizmo on the e71 phone under its "Setup Internet Tel" application and Symbian 3.1 OS.

Michael says "...as the software applications and operating system come into sync, I expect the support to actually improve as core VOIP functionality is embedded even further into the OS. Remember, Nokia now owns Symbian." Gizmo5 continues to see "constant growth" as more WiFi enabled devices are sold.

Related stories
Nokia drops VoIP on new N-Series
Mobile Enterprise VoIP: Has its time finally come? Maybe, maybe not

Korea: Mobile WiMAX needs VoIP

Doug Mohney — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:24:21 -0400

For all the hype around the WiBro standard in Korea, it hasn't seen the adoption numbers carriers were hoping for. VoIP is needed to get to the next level, says VNUnet.com.

Korea is portrayed as the world's first and largest test market for mobile WiMAX when the WiBro service rolled out in 2006. The service is expected to have 250,000 users by the end of this year, up from 100,000 at the end of 2007. Analyst Ku Kang of the ROA Group attributes the lack of rapid market penetration to provide a killer app.

Kang says VoIP could be that killer app--if it can get through legal and other issues. Voice support is a must if WiBro is to compete with HSDPA and LTE. ROA group predicts the WiBro market can reach up to 2.5 million uses by 2011.

Korean researchers also are looking at upgrading WiBro to support up to 3.6Gbps to "slow moving" users and delivering up to 100Mbps to users in vehicles moving at speeds of up to 74 mph.

For more:
- VoIP key to mobile WiMAX in Korea, says VNUnet.com

Related articles:
T-Mobile CEO says wVoIP won't catch on
Mobile VoIP changes the game

Jaxtr Dials Out and into $10M

Doug Mohney — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:33:30 -0400

Jaxtr, yet another VoIP-to-mobile-phone play, has now enabled out of network calls with the usual discounted savings--"substantially less"--than rates charged by a typical calling card. The company also scored $10 million in VC money.

Jaxtr users were always able to make free in-network calls, it was the off-network piece that wasn't announced until yesterday. Calls are placed with direct dial numbers, avoiding the headache of access and PIN numbers. Jaxtr is currently used by more than 10 million people in 220 countries, says the company.

Lehman Brothers Venture Partners led the $10 million dollar of financing. A Lehman Brothers partner praised Jaxtr's ability to acquire "millions" of customers per month without spending any money on marketing and the ability to monetize its offering within 16 months of launch through advertising and premium (i.e. value-added bells and whistles) services. Premium features include more free SMS per month and enhanced digital voicemail features.

Credits, or "jax," can be spent and purchased to call non-members. One jax equals about a penny, so you can call Canada and China for around a penny per minute and India for 6 cents per minute.

Has Jaxtr found a way to survive in a crowded field populated by Jajah, TruPhone, and the corpses of other players such as Jangl, and TalkPlus?

For more
- Jaxtr $10M and out-of-network release

Related articles:
Jaxtr: 10 million customers but no revenue
Jaxtr social network VoIP tool bows: Do you care?

SPOTLIGHT: Truphone cuts international calling prices

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:59:53 -0500

U.K. web VoIP operator Truphone has released an aggressive international pricing plan offering free and low-priced calls to more than 40 countries. Users of its software will also avoid any roaming fees. Truphone customers will be able to call countries in the "Tru Zone" at a rate of six cents per minute to landlines and 30 cents per minute to mobiles from almost anywhere. Calls made Truphone-to-Truphone are free, including for mobiles. Packet8 also has a similar widget that offers deeply discounted international calls through VoIP technology. Truphone website