The road is filled with mobile VoIP and FMC companies. For a few years we heard how EQO was going to change the world and now you can’t even download their software, while others like Challenger, Vyke and WiFi Mobile all made claims that they would change the way we talk but pretty much ended up being clones of two companies, Truphone and Gizmo, both of who early on figured out how to work best on Nokia N and E Series 60 devices and then expanded to more.
Former client now acquired by Counterpath, BridgePort Networks made a good run at Fixed Mobile Convergence and was very much way ahead of its time by a few years, as the carriers and mobile operators all said “like it, but don’t see it yet.”
Well the “yet” is about to be now, and as Om Malik points out in his post of yesterday, the mobile network operators are opening up more and more to VoIP starting with O2 in Germany but also with over the weekend mention by Verizon Wireless as part of their LTE trials.
Clearly this is good news for client Truphone, whom Om highlighted, as well as a few others who understand their role and place in the whole mobile eco-system.
Yes, the tides are turning, and part of the reason is LTE, which is going to be SIP based. All the work done to get there has not been for naught, but it takes staying power and a vision, as well as a roadmap to get there. Not simply an feature in search of a problem.