VOIP News

Cisco’s chief development officer Charlie Giancarlo gave a keynote last week at VoiceCon. Given Cisco’s position in the VoIP market, he kind of had to, since Nortel and Microsoft gave talks of their own. But Giancarlo’s was kind of odd because he focused a great deal of his alloted time to videoconferencing and its place in enterprise communications. Now we know why. Cisco yesterday agreed to buy WebEx, which hosts web-based online conferencing, for $3.2 billion. That ranks the purchase up with Cisco’s purchases of set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta or broadband switch builder Stratacom. WebEx has 28,000 customers; is each of them really worth $145,000? No, money like that is strategic, which would indicate that a) Cisco is interested in service revenue, not just hardware, and b) we should expect Cisco to get very interested in IMS, if it isn’t already.

For more information about Cisco and WebEx:

- read this article from EE Times

Related Articles:

Cisco, Nokia reach dual-mode phone deal. Report

Cisco: How to select the right VoIP integrator. Report

In comparison to the Cisco/WebEx deal, $880 million is walking around money, but word is that’s what Microsoft just spent on Tellme Networks. It’s an interesting play, but entirely makes sense if you stop to think about it. Microsoft is very clear that it doesn’t believe in the future of desk phones–and that mobile phones are really just moving data terminals. Tellme marries voice recognition to databases; when you call FedEx, it’s Tellme technology you’re talking to. Put Tellme technology into a Microsoft OCS environment, pop a microphone onto your PC, and you start to have a something that’s real interesting–and should chill anyone who relies on selling handsets into enterprises.

For more information about the Tellme deal:

- read this article from CNet about how the deal went down, and

- and this article from Microsoft Watch about why the deal is important

Related Articles:

Microsoft starts OCS2007 private beta. Report

Microsoft sniffing around VoIP. Report

That long-gestating deal that will bring together the carrier business of Siemens and Nokia finally has a due date–and its really soon. The companies announced yesterday that Nokia Siemens Networks will open for business on April 1. The deal would have been done sooner, but for the little matter of an ongoing bribery probe into Siemens’ business operations. The newly formed company is saying it’s put strong compliance policies into place to prevent it from getting tarred with the same brush. Each parent company will own half of the venture, but Nokia is putting in $2.25 billion and Siemens putting in $3.17 billion.

For more information about the birth of Siemens Nokia Networks:

- read this article from the AP via Forbes

Related Article:

Nokia and Siemens merge infrastructure biz. Report

Not to confuse matters, but Nokia and Siemens have another, unrelated deal in the works. Siemens Communications–the enterprise part of Siemens that’s staying (for now) with the parent company–is working with Nokia’s enterprise business on a fixed-mobile convergence agreement. The idea is that Nokia’s dual-mode E series phones will be able to work with Siemens Hi-Path Mobile Connect Solution to hand off calls as necessary between WiFi networks and the cellular network. The companies were hinting about this broadly at last week’s VoiceCon; this week came the official announcement.

For more information about Siemens and FMC:

- check out this article from ZDNet UK

This falls into the category of “you mean someone paid money to find this out?” The authoritative Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 155 telecom executives in 36 countries, and discovered that 68 percent of them think VoIP is the chief threat to fixed line revenues. (Gee, y’think?) More than 80 percent believe that voice calls won’t even be a major revenue source with 6 years; 60 percent think it will happen within 4 years. To fight it, 75 percent of telco execs think they need to find new services to preserve revenues, and that price cuts and marketing won’t do the trick. Oracle put up the money for the study.

For more information about how telcos are dead meat:

- read this article from TMCNet

Related Article:

VoIP drives telco prices down. Report

The technical spec for broadband over powerline moves another step closer, as the IEEE has set up a standards working group. If you’re following this, look for the P1901 Working Group, which already has developed more than 400 requirements for the standard to meet. Article

> Why is wireless VoIP better for business than cellular? Here’s seven reasons. Article

> Can a soft phone have a good voice quality as a standard IP desk set? One scientific study says “yes.” Article

> A white paper from Cognio says that WiFi networks are vulnerable to DoS attacks. Cognio sells hardware and software that diagnoses wireless network interference. White paper

And Finally… Every New Yorker has his favorite pizzeria. This isn’t it. Article

• Editor’s Corner
• VoWiMAX may be a technology too far
• Should wireless broadband be net neutral?
• Bated breath on Vonage patent loss
• CLEC Cordia introduces Magellan dial-around service
• Verizon Rev. A rollout near completion
• SPOTLIGHT: Successful VoIP trial on IPv6
• ALSO NOTED: Oman outlaws cybercafe VoIP; PC card makes Skype PBX; and much more…

Is wireless VoIP especially vulnerable to fraud? One analysis suggests that using WiMAX to carry voice entails particular revenue risk. The issue isn’t WiMAX itself; it’s that carriers who are moving to WiMAX are usually rolling out other new systems–billing systems among them–at the same time. With so much new hardware and software rolling around a network, one analysis warns, it would be easy for infrastructure to miss some configuration or interface detail that will open the new network to fraud. In a perfect world, this wouldn’t be problem. Have you noticed any perfect worlds lately?

For more about VoWiMAX vulnerabilities:

- read this article from Billing World

Related Articles:

Argentinian carrier to offer VoIP over WiMAX. Report

Packaged VoIP-over-WiMAX solution in the works. Report

There was an interesting-sounding panel in Washington last week about whether wireless broadband networks ought to be subject to net neutrality rules. (This presumes that anyone is subject to those rules, a question that is very much up in the air.) Skype, which is about a year behind schedule in its mobile VoIP development and which has no network of its own to share–though it’s happy to share yours–says that 3G and 4G networks ought to be neutral. The eBay subsidiary also says that U.S. carrier’s ability to control handsets and the software running on them is retarding market progress and violates the Carterfone decision. The CTIA disagrees.

To me, it’s a close call. It’s true that the handset business is vastly more robust outside the U.S. than inside, and it’s probably true that carrier control has a lot to do with that. And, generally speaking, net neutrality is a Good Thing. But Skype leeches bandwidth, and OTA bandwidth is still–and for some time will remain–precious and scarce. There could hardly be a worse poster child for wireless net neutrality than Skype. Intellectually, wireless neutrality is a must. If I were on the FCC, I’d be inclined to carve out an exception for five years or so until robust wireless broadband becomes a reality.

For more about wireless net neutrality:

- read this FierceWireless article

Related Articles:

Calm words over net neutrality. Report

Keeping track of net neutrality. Report

Net neutrality amendment fails in committee. Report