Is the Dominance of Telecom Operators under Threat?
VoIP undoubtedly has changed the way many people make and pay for phone calls. It would also be true to say the development of VoIP technology also got some of the Telecoms giants feeling the heat. So is VoIP going to take over? Will fixed landlines become an archaic symbol of yesteryear?. It appears that there are several barriers which when looked at together, may possible prove insurmountable. For this reason I will suggest that far from being an unstoppable force, perhaps VoIP has had its day.
It’s becoming increasingly evident that something being hugely popular and used my millions of people doesn’t necessarily mean that it will make any money. This has been illustrated with both Skype and Facebook as they struggle to find a way of successfully monetizing themselves. The problem with Skype as with other VoIP operators is the strange nature of the relationship with the incumbent telecoms operators. Much in the same way as a parasite is dependent on its host to live, so too VoIP operators find themselves at the behest of the Telecoms giants whose networks they need for survival.
Lack of any tangible infrastructure poses a huge hurdle for VoIP companies, where the competitive nature of the market has also meant prices are tending towards zero. To attract any outside capital or investment, any potential investor needs something more to invest in than the purely the brand. As is the case with some mobile VoIP operators such as the UK start-up Truphone having some proprietary technology of their own has meant they have been able to get hold of funding. However without being able to generate a sizeable income the likelihood they will be able to build their own network is highly unlikely.
It was only recently that T-Mobile took action against Truphone illustrating VoIP operators’ vulnerability. In this case the courts took action to prevent T-Mobile from barring calls to numbers which had been allocated to Truphone which perhaps can be seen as a ray of hope for the future of flexing of the muscles of Hutchison Wampoa, which owns the 3 networks has been more successful, effectively removing the possibility of widely available Wi-Fi, arguably signalling the end for Skype.
How things will progress remains to be seen but it seems like the incumbent telecom operators may just be starting to fight back.
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