January 01, 2004

Fragmented VoIP Market

The other day I came to know yet another free VoIP service provider (Free IP call) based on SIP. This started the following thought process. There are two kinds of SIP service providers – those who offer PSTN interconnection and those that do not. All of them offer free “on-net” calls. Usually there is a monthly fee for PSTN interconnection. Of course in most instances there are no interconnection agreements between SIP-based service providers. The last two points are of concern. Continuing maintenance of exclusivity by the service providers impedes Metcalfe’s Law. If the only source of revenue is PSTN interconnection, the service providers will be facing a strange anomaly – as their addressable market expands, the need for interconnection reduces, potentially reducing their revenue base. So it is critical that so called purple minutes are identified. We have to place an important constraint on purple minutes: they should require mediation of a service provider.

Posted by aswath at January 1, 2004 01:23 AM
Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin
If you do not have an OpenID, then please use www.enthinnai.com/unauopenid/anyblog.

 

Comments

Some of the SIP-based service providers have interconnection agreements: FWD, Sipphone, and IPTEL.ORG all interconnect. Each of them also permits dialing of SIP URIs to connect to any SIP end-point. I don't think any of them make as big a point of this as they should however, because as you note, it is critical and good for both the providers and the users (Metcalfe’s Law).

Posted by: David Beckemeyer at January 2, 2004 09:26 PM

Your point is well taken. I should have clarified that my remarks on exclusivity applies to commercial service providers. I agree that FWD, SipPhone and Iptel allow interconnection. They are led by visionaries and evangelists; their operation may not be indicative of what commercial operators will do. At least that is my concern. I am also extrapolating from what I observe in the IM world.

Posted by: Aswath at January 3, 2004 01:51 AM



Copyright © 2003-2014 Moca Educational Products.