Could WiFi Kill the Cellular Star?

Who doesn't hate high cellular phone bills, especially in corporate settings where people yap and yap all day eating up those anytime minutes? New voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones promise free wireless calls while at work using special phones that let you run voice on Internet packets. But this technology is only now maturing, previously beset with long delays and poor quality phone calls. I tried out a VoIP phone from Clarisys recently, along with a Vonage SoftPhone on a laptop. The phone was wired into my laptop, but I could make and receive calls through my laptop anywhere on my wireless home network. The quality was decent and my phone conversations were nearly normal.

However, the cell companies claim that most work VoIP phones are still too expensive, and that GSM is the way to go -- which could work in an office or in public cell networks (though the latter would be pricy). It hasn't happened yet -- I don't think -- but when someone comes out with a VoIP phone that also will work on regular cell networks, it will kill. That way, you could use it on your corporate network for free, on any random public or private hotspots for nearly nothing, and on cell networks for a small fee.

Could VoIP completely eradicate cell networks? Not likely, unless WiFi mega-networks start covering the land.

Posted by markglaser, February 19, 2004 05:55 PM | | TrackBack