Internet texting the next big threat

NEVER MIND the current battles over support for VoIP being disabled inside certain Nokia models like the N95. The really big fight in the mobile space will be centred around text-over-IP, according to Dr Adam Beaumont, a director with AQL.

Service providers like AQL can already provide their customers with text-over-IP functionality, Beaumont claims. The snag is that there isn't a de facto standard for how the technology should work.

The reality is that providers like AQL are having to wait for industry leader, Nokia, to make its move. Once Nokia develops the APIs for how text-over-IP will interface with the handset's built-in addressbook, for example, the whole sector will take off.

Sending texts via IP will trigger a whole bunch of new applications - not least because they won't be restricted to the current 160 characters.

It will also be quite feasible to embed a whole bunch of native IP commands into text-over-IP messages - thereby providing a much easier way to get handset owners to surf the mobile Internet.

Then there's SIP or Presence which enables you to see if a contact is online and call them rather than texting if so desired.

The problem is that the revenues mobile operators could lose from VoIP calls will pale in comparison to the lost earnings if texts suddenly became free thanks to IP. Operators charge a small fortune for the tiny bit of data that equates to a single text.

It therefore costs almost nothing to provide a texting service at present. By comparison a few users making the occasional VoIP call won't really hurt their finances.

The million dollar question is ... when will Nokia and the other major handset vendors feel brave enough to introduce text-over-IP? There will be pressure from consumers to do so while the mobile network operators will be fiercely opposed to such a move.

Getting mobile operators to support 'free' texting over IP will by comparison make the controversy over disabled VoIP software inside the N95 look like a storm in a tea cup. µ

See Also
VoIP functionality in Nokia N95 disabled