Emerging Trends in the Mobile VoIP Business

This research paper has analyzed the mobile VoIP technology from the business point of view, focusing mostly on the consumer sector. Through the identification of relevant technologies in implementing mobile VoIP services the paper has constructed a classification of major players in the business. First, there are incumbent operators, who might leverage on the combination of cellular and emerging radio technologies in providing mobile VoIP services. Secondly, there are challenger operators emerging, who have a core strategy in mobile VoIP. If they provide standardized interfaces and service-level products without owning any radio access technologies, they are called virtual mobile VoIP operators. There are also Internet companies which might strongly leverage on the modular Internet-like evolution path. These actors might distribute proprietary light-weight clients (e.g. Skype) and approach the mobile VoIP business from the disruptive Internet perspective. It is actually possible that voice connectivity is a simple Internet application in the future, if this path gains momentum. By discussing the technological advancements of the near future and likely evolution of business approaches the paper suggests that in the end of the day it might be a two-way evolution path which emerges on the market. The first path leads to a very vertically integrated operator-driven ecosystem, in which incumbent operators can probably leverage both on their existing cellular infrastructure and on new emerging radio access technologies. Platforms and standards such as UMA and IMS probably drive this path. The alternative evolution path leads to an Internet-like model, in which the ecosystem is layered and highly modular. Bit-pipe operators take care of traffic, whereas on the higher level actors with focused strategies implement mobile VoIP services. In the case of failure of key VoIP standards it is major Internet companies with light-weight proprietary clients (e.g. Skype, Google) who prosper, or in the case of wide-scale emergence of SIP-capable WLAN handsets and establishment of open WLAN networks it is virtual mobile VoIP operators who might be better off in future of the mobile VoIP industry.