Will Security Problems Be the End for VoIP?
One of the most important developments in the telecommunications industry in recent times has been the development of mobile VoIP technology. Although still relatively early days for the mobile Voice over IP operators such as Truphone, it certainly seems they have the potential to mix things up in the telecoms industry. Some of the recent longer established mobile operators’ actions seem evidence of this with T-Mobile recently being forced to allow the use of Truphone over its network, having previously barred calls to Truphone allocated numbers.
While a few industry commentators suggest that as VoIP prices tend towards zero, this is making it a very difficult industry to make any substantial profit in; the wider availability of low cost ultra fast broadband and has resulted in a huge surge in the availability of free Wi-Fi. Consequently this is making mobile VoIP operators an increasingly attractive offer for consumers. The trend in the availability of new ’smart phones’ with the ability to run mobile VoIP client software, at ever decreasing prices is also, it could be argued, creating a situation where mobile VoIP could really take off.
We have recently seen T-Mobile announce their VoIP service called @home giving customers the option of paying a single low monthly flat rate. However whilst the industry is finding home owners reluctant to abandon their fixed phone line all together, mobile VoIP companies have no such obstacle to contend with. The seamless integration of mobile VoIP software into the functionality of mobile phones, as well as the falling cost of unlimited data phone packages has resulted in a predictably fast growth in the mobile VoIP sector.
At present it has been reported that there are 4 million VoIP users in the UK, and its likely this figure will go up. How established mobile phone operators will harness this is still unclear but the decision to force T Mobile to allow calls to Truphone subscribers surely transmits a crystal clear signal that rather than try and resist the mobile VoIP operators, the entranched industry monoliths must find a way of working with them.
One stumbling block which could have an influence on the take-up of mobile VoIP is security, with many highly publicized incidents highlighting the vulnerabilities in making calls using VoIP. Another issue to contend with is ‘VoIP phishing’ where people are convinced to part with their personal data of their own free will after falling for a thief’s lure. This is also symptomatic of other VoIP security problems where unscrupulous would be thieves can tamper with the caller ID making it look as though they are calling from their own financial institutions. Once such problems have been addressed and fears allayed it is likely that mobile VoIP will become much more prevalent in everyday life as people take the opportunity to turn their mobiles into VoIP phones.
