T-Mobile & VoIP....?
I am kind of surprised to read the news story that Bill posted last night regarding T-Mobile, and enabling their phones to use WiFi networks to make calls on the VoIP (voice over internet protocol). After some thought, something just isn't sitting right with me.
It's presented that this way users won't use up their minutes from their monthly plan, but I'm sure that's what they really want you to. This is where the profits are so that they can charge us fifty-nine cents a minute for the call. That's how those teens can ring up a couple hundred bucks worth of phone calls in a month- don't laugh, I know plenty of folks that have done this!
Additionally, there is now less competition than there has been in cell phones for a while. With the merger of Sprint with Nextel, and AT&T with Cingular, there has been quite a bit of consolidation in the last year or two. The timing of this simply doesn't go along with a less competitive environment.
Is T-Mobile really planning on competing with the likes of Vonage and Skype? Both of these seem like small potatoes compared to a behemouth like T-Mobile. Are the masses ever going to want to even deal with the complexities of VoIP? How about the call quality issues? Or what about the lack of location issues with 911 that are still being worked on? These issues become even more daunting when we realize that Verison keeps sending out invites for "pay one price" plans that include unlimited calls across the country for one flat rate from the landline that's already set up in the house.
The smart phones have generally left out a WiFi chip for one reason- to not compete with their provider's data services. Who is going to pay for a T-Mobile HotSpot plan if their smartphone can link up for free at the airport? The solution has been to simply not include WiFi support to keep the monthly fees flowing for the data services.
Clearly, something isn't making sense here. I'm guessing that somehow this VoIP service will command a pricey monthly premium, so this way they make a profit even if you use it day and night. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, is they will bundle it in with one of their less popular services. I could see it included with their T-Mobile HotSpot plan that enables access to their 8,000 or so wireless access points which has never been that popular.
I'll be keeping an eye on this one, as it will be intriguing to see how it plays out. Like I said, something just isn't right.
--Jonas
It's presented that this way users won't use up their minutes from their monthly plan, but I'm sure that's what they really want you to. This is where the profits are so that they can charge us fifty-nine cents a minute for the call. That's how those teens can ring up a couple hundred bucks worth of phone calls in a month- don't laugh, I know plenty of folks that have done this!
Additionally, there is now less competition than there has been in cell phones for a while. With the merger of Sprint with Nextel, and AT&T with Cingular, there has been quite a bit of consolidation in the last year or two. The timing of this simply doesn't go along with a less competitive environment.
Is T-Mobile really planning on competing with the likes of Vonage and Skype? Both of these seem like small potatoes compared to a behemouth like T-Mobile. Are the masses ever going to want to even deal with the complexities of VoIP? How about the call quality issues? Or what about the lack of location issues with 911 that are still being worked on? These issues become even more daunting when we realize that Verison keeps sending out invites for "pay one price" plans that include unlimited calls across the country for one flat rate from the landline that's already set up in the house.
The smart phones have generally left out a WiFi chip for one reason- to not compete with their provider's data services. Who is going to pay for a T-Mobile HotSpot plan if their smartphone can link up for free at the airport? The solution has been to simply not include WiFi support to keep the monthly fees flowing for the data services.
Clearly, something isn't making sense here. I'm guessing that somehow this VoIP service will command a pricey monthly premium, so this way they make a profit even if you use it day and night. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, is they will bundle it in with one of their less popular services. I could see it included with their T-Mobile HotSpot plan that enables access to their 8,000 or so wireless access points which has never been that popular.
I'll be keeping an eye on this one, as it will be intriguing to see how it plays out. Like I said, something just isn't right.
--Jonas
posted by digitaldoc at 6:42 AM
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