Mobile networks must rival or revel in VoIP

Mobile operators are now realising they must work with the VoIP provider community or create their own VoIP solutions, according to Informa Telecoms and Media.

The global telecoms and media markets business intelligence provider said that mobile operators are "beginning to change their attitude" to VoIP due to consumer demand, telecoms industry news website Telecoms.com reported.

Dario Talmesio, senior research analyst and head of Europe at Informa Telecoms and Media, said that "market forces are such that mobile operators can’t avoid internet-based VoIP".

Mr Talmesio, commenting on developments at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, added that operators that fear VoIP "need to be able to provide a compelling service competing with VoIP".

"Those operators wanting to be serious players in the mobile internet need to embrace openness and they need to allow internet services on their devices - this includes VoIP," he said.

Applications such as IP telephony solutions are increasingly powering the growth of the mobile broadband market, Allot Communications said recently.

The worldwide mobile broadband share of VoIP solutions and IM (Instant Messaging) applications climbed substantially in the second half of 2009, rising to 47 per cent.