Sprint’s WiMAX phone: A voice competitor to itself?

Tom Nolle — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:52:00 +0000

Sprint is expected to release its first WiMAX phone this summer, and the launch may open a bunch of issues and opportunities in the world of evolving voice services. The issue is less whether something like the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) standard is helpful in a technical sense than whether any 4G VoIP business model makes sense.

Verizon’s decision to let Skype onto smartphones shows that operators are willing to cede some calling to over-the-top (OTT) voice players because it’s inevitable they’d lose in some spaces. How many spaces, then?

Will Sprint decide to make WiMAX voice a competitor to its own 3G voice, or will it make it an adjunct to data services offered on data devices? That’s the big question this summer may answer.

Soaring Skype may force 4G voice choices among network operators

Tom Nolle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:39:21 +0000

Skype is now reportedly the largest carrier of international voice traffic, something that has to be making waves among carrier planners. In fact, the Skype phenomenon is creating major concern about voice migration planning among network operators, in no small part because it’s believed that VoIP services like Skype will also quickly take hold in wireless when unlimited data plans come into play.

The big question for operators is whether to invest in 4G voice (IMS) or to simply focus on data and let current 3G networks carry voice traffic until users finally simply abandon traditional voice services. Some are considering their own overlay services based on simpler Internet voice technology, rather than IMS. We expect that the final verdict here won’t be rendered until the spring.

Uncommon Wisdom » 4G voice

Sprint’s WiMAX phone: A voice competitor to itself?

Soaring Skype may force 4G voice choices among network operators