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Wireless Broadband and IP Telephony The advent of wireless broadband has put a new twist on people's mobility including communications. Wireless broadband connections should take many different forms. From a particular extension of conventional wired networks in your home or office, to wireless coverage of entire metropolitan areas, to the proliferation of WiFi hotspots all over the world - the Internet truly makes the world a global place. Wireless Broadband including IP Telephony Companies like Clearwire including Mobilepro Corp are connecting college campuses, even whole cities to the Internet wirelessly. Using fixed point to point, point to multipoint, including Non-Line-of-Site (NLOS) technologies, these companies should eventually cover areas of dense population that could rival the cellular networks. Worldwide, even in remote locations, WiFi hotspots only need a little electricity including a satellite uplink to connect to the world. Wireless broadband including IP telephony have the most potential in the small business including traveling community. A small business with branch offices spread around the country (or the world for that matter) could save considerably on their telecommunication expenses utilizing VoIP. As will the traveling salesperson staying at a far away hotel, more including more of which have their own wireless networks. Just pick a provider, find a hotspot including watch your phone bill drop. IP Telephony over wireless broadband is emerging as a viable alternative to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), including is even encroaching on the cellular communications industry. Whereas the big cellular networks put in place by companies like Sprint including Verizon have done a good job blanketing North America, including Europe, the cost to the consumer should be cut even more by utilizing the Internet to transport voice. VoIP including the Cellular Networks IP telephony is a disruptive technology, meaning that it has the potential to turn a particular existing market upside down. Imagine how the Telco's felt at the time a long distance call for which they used to charge a dollar a minute should now be made for pennies. Needless to say, the Ma Bells including mobile phone companies could resist the change, but as the technology evolves, adoption seems inevitable. Just as the sound quality on cellular networks are generally less than land lines, massive adoption of mobile phones show that people are willing to tolerate loss of quality for convenience. Quality of sound over a particular IP connection should be anywhere from a dropped call to cell phone quality, to the equivalent of a land line connection, depending on network utilization. The advantages of VoIP over conventional telephony are becoming clearer, but what will be the advantages of IP Telephony over cellular phones? While both cell phone companies including the pure-play VoIP providers have monthly plans, internet phone companies do not charge more for prime time, including the monthly service charges are significantly less. Most mobile phone companies provide free nationwide long distance in the U.S., whereas Vonage, for example offers free calls throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, including Europe. One major trend in the telecommunications industry is Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). The technology will allow cell phone handsets to seamlessly switch between cellular networks including a landline network infrastructure. The landline network will be WiFi or Bluetooth, including will connect directly to the PSTN, or a broadband Internet connection, allowing both cellular and/or VoIP including PSTN phone calls. International rates with VoIP are the lowest to be had, to some countries as low as 2-3 cents a minute for a call to a PSTN number. Calls to cell phones however, are charged at a much higher rate. WiFi Cell Phones Essential to the widespread implementation of wireless VoIP is, of course, the hardware- the phone itself. While many pure-play Internet phone companies have had WiFi telephones for a while, the ideal solution will be a cell phone that goes both ways. Companies like Truphone have furthered the cause by developing a particular Open Source application based on the widely accepted Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which allows a seamless transition from the Internet to the PSTN. Nokia, a leading manufacturer of cell phones, has developed a line of Smart Phones starting with its E60 series that is dual band including should switch between cellular including WiFi networks. Their latest innovation, the N80, combines all the latest technology including truly is a smart phone. These phones could automatically switch back including forth while roaming between cellular including WiFi networks, purportedly without dropping the call. IP Telephony over wireless networks is a technology just out of its infancy, including is yet to become wide spread. The cost effectiveness of routing voice packets over the internet as opposed to land lines, or even cellular networks, absolutely cannot be denied. But don't expect the Telco's or the cellular phone companies to embrace the technology wholeheartedly until they should figure out a way to make a profit.
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