MWeb is set to make inroads into the voice space with the introduction of a mobile voice over IP (VOIP) product for consumers and SMEs alike.
In light of the shift from voice-only, time-division multiplexing connectivity, to converged voice/data over IP services as VOIP technology matures, coupled with customer awareness of VOIP, the Internet service provider (ISP) is “definitely going to be playing in the VOIP space”. It has been upgrading its VOIP platform over the past six months to ready itself for the launch of new retail products.
Building on MWeb's first foray into the retail VOIP space with Mtalk WebCall, the company will launch MWeb Talk, a “plug-and-play” solution that is aimed at enabling customers to make affordable phone calls from their cellphones. The product, says MWeb's GM of voice services, Eugene van der Westhuizen, is expected to be launched within the next two months, after which auto-provisioned desk phones will be developed.
According to Van der Westhuizen, the products associated with Mtalk WebCall were technically too difficult for the average user to set up and configure. The redeveloped MWeb Talk, he says, enables customers to easily download and install either MWeb's auto-provisioned soft phone on their PC and laptop, or its mobile VOIP application (3G and WiFi) on their smartphone. The app will be available on iPhone, Android and Symbian platforms.
“[The product] is suitable for use over any broadband connection, whether ADSL, WiFi or 3G, using any device (soft phones, hard phones and mobile apps).”
Van der Westhuizen says MWeb's “large base of ADSL customers” will be the product's initial target market. “They will be able to connect via their WiFi/3G with our mobile apps as well.”
In the pipeline for the SME space, says MWeb, is a “cost-effective VOIP gateway and interconnect-based LCR product that provides high call concurrency on an ADSL line”. Traditionally, says Van der Westhuizen, high call concurrency SIP trunks were only achievable on leased lines, a significant expense. “Here again we have a large base of business ADSL customers that we'll target initially.”
Market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts mobile VOIP will grow from $605 million in 2008 to $29.5 billion in 2015, while Gartner foresees smartphone penetration in SA is likely to reach 80% by 2014, almost four times the present figure.
Analysts attribute the popularity of mobile VOIP to relatively low costs in comparison to traditional voice calls.
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