VOIP and SIP News

The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is boosting bandwidth to drive Voice over Internet Protocol by providing Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

AMS-IX is a public peering company and sees the SLAs as the roadmap to guaranteed better service during the transition to VoIP on 4G networks.

While Mobile network operators have IP connections with each other, 4G networks will use IP packets for everything, which will produce a huge amount of data which needs to be dealt with.

Therefore AMS-IX has brought out the Inter-IPX IP Packet Exchange which allows mobile network operators to conform to GSMA standards. Data transmission of the customer packets will start next month.

It is somewhat unchartered territory and many companies which have their own peering agreements will look to see how the AMS-IX experiment goes.

What is certain is that they will have to deal with a huge volume of traffic once the world switches to 4G.

A 4G network which will make VoIP calling faster and easier is due to roll out in the UK in 2012.

Already industry regulator Ofcom has been auctioning off network space to Mobile VoIP companies.

Right now many companies use the 3G network to give internet access to their range of popular smartphones such as the Android and iPhone OS.

4G is expected to cover 95% of the UK’s mobile VoIP service and provide fast speeds, efficient service and low cost calls. It will offer a secure IP telephony solution for all mobile devices including smartphones and laptops.

The news is not so good for fixed line telecommunications companies which are fighting against the tide – last year saw one million less fixed line users. The way this trend is going the landline could be completely obsolete in two decades.

Although 4G phones will be expensive to start with they will gradually become more affordable. And even though fixed line calls may remain cheaper the convenience of mobiles makes then a preferable option for many consumers.

Expect a worldwide movement to 4G next year as even countries as far afield as Sri Lanka have discussed the possibility of a total roll out. Wherever in the world they are based the opportunities for mobile VoIP providers are endless.

Voice communications are set to move into the cloud with the assistance of 4G.

That is because a single standard for LTE voice has now been agreed for 4G.

Therefore there is more incentive for carriers to invest in wireless services in the future. Along with the wireless service WiMax, carriers can make an investment in IMS.

According to the director of Broadsoft, David Walters, the communications market is changing with a proliferation of 'VoIP application servers that sit in carrier networks, leveraging SIP trunks to serve enterprises and SMBs.'

However those characteristics may now be taken into the cloud. Voice will become more and more like another IT service which can be purchased.

Mr Walters explained: "This provides a big opportunity to help value-added resellers package voice services in the cloud, creating a crisp business model in the process."

The upshot is a world where customers can gain PBX functionality for their mobile phones.

Many dedicated VoIP users have been wondering whether they will get a faster service and better quality of call over 4G next year.

Yet the handset and application developers have been slow to act, partly because no final standard for VoIP over 4G has yet been defined.

Right now 4G is being used for data channels on dual mode devices as well as faster mobile Internet connections.

However good news is at hand and before the New Year a number of companies will expand into 4G and unified communications.

They include the Verizon Wireless LTE network and Clearwire with 120 million people taking advantage of it is WiMax network.

One of the big developments of 2010 is that SIP trunking is now ubiquitous and this is offered cheaply as part of many VoIP services. It is also a main part of the VoIP portfolio offered by cable companies.

VoIP is driving market growth in Israel according to a new study by Pyramid Research.

The company found that the Israeli markets would benefit from multiplay and and 4G services over the next five years as opposed to increased penetration rates. The wide availability of broadband is also a driving factor.


The sector is currently worth $6.9 billion US dollars but is forecast to increase to $7.1 billion US dollars by 2015.

Kerem Arsal, an analyst at Pyramid Research, said: “As the ability to offer multiplay services becomes more important in the Israeli market, operators look for mergers or partnerships that will allow them to expand their product ranges. Therefore differentiation through discounted bundles and value-added services becomes vital."
He added: “With 85 per cent of households having fixed broadband access and the proliferation of 3G networks by all mobile players, the market is ripe with opportunities for convergence and multiplay offers."
The report predicts increased opportunities for convergence once IP-based 4G and LTE networks roll out and data usage gains importance. Pyramid Research predicts LTE network subscriptions will increase to 12 per cent by 2015.

Israel has a highly competitive VoIP market both for vendors and operators. That is why multiplay offerings are particularly popular. Meanwhile impending licenses for MVNOs and WiMAX will provide further opportunities to virtual network enablers. Much depends on the Ministry of Communication timetable.

The prevalence of 3G and 4G networks has hugely increased the amount of mobile VoIP minutes. Analysts believe that the figure will rocket up from 15 billion mobile VoIP minutes this year to 470.6 billion mobile VoIP minutes in five years time (2015).

While this increase is being felt across all markets, it is particularly pronounced in developed markets where 3G networks have become the norm. However, a great deal of traffic is bypassing VoIP networks altogether in the form of WiFi mobile VoIP.

Anthony Cox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research, said: "There are many types of mobile VoIP. WiFi mobile VoIP is potentially damaging to VoIP traffic figures as it bypasses mobile networks.
"Because of this WiFi mobile VoIP will cost operators five billion dollars globally over the next five years."
He added: "Even though some operators tout the benefits of mobile VoIP, it will take time for many of them to accept it, as it represents a loss of network control."
However Juniper Research predicted that competition and regulation would eventually pressure many operators into forging partnerships with VoIP providers. This will be partly prompted by the decline in their revenues.
Mobile VoIP is available through various providers, or by downloading an app to a handset or smartphone such as the Android.

For a country that has a huge amount of mobile subscribers, some 600 Million, India is really lagging behind in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provisions. VoIP allows users to make cheap calls over the internet by using switched packet data.  
There are currently only 3.5 million VoIP users in India, while the number of subscribers is much lower at 113,000. According to an industry survey by Ovum there are only 32 VoIP Internet Service Providers in India. The main problems have been slow internet access and the lack of a VoIP infrastructure.

India has been trying to regulate VoIP in the country since 2002, but progress has been slow. The Department of Telecom (DoT) in India has been the main barrier to VoIP, keeping restrictions in place about how it is used. Currently only International Long Distance (ILD) calls and IP to IP calls are permitted in India.

However the industry is eagerly waiting to see what the affect of the 3G and 4G wave will be on VoIP in India.

It is estimated that the Indian VoIP consumer market will expand rapidly to reach 6.5 million users by the year 2014.

The launch of the first 4G phone will improve VoIP solutions. When it goes on sale next month the HTC Evo 4G, or Supersonic, handset will be the first American handset to use the Sprint 4G network.
It will allow high quality VoIP calls as well as increased data transfer.
The phone hasa 4.3 inch TFT screen with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. The operating system will be the Android 2.1 and includes a Snapdragon processor running at 1GHz. The Supersonic will have 512 of RAM and 1GB of memory. It also has a camera and wi fi capability.
Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse said: "The HTC EVO 4G is a excellent 3G device and when you connect it to the growing 4G coverage area, it becomes a multimedia powerhouse."
Pcworld.com recently did a test and found that the phone had a download speed of 13 Mbps. At this speed the 4G network can replace broadband at home as it has comparable download rates. When the HTC Evo is released, probably this summer, it will be in direct competition with the iPhone 4G.