I’ve used VoIP apps on the past few iterations of of the iPhone as well as a number of other devices including some from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung. Those apps always only worked over WiFi and have mostly worked as advertised. Experience shows that if there’s one thing cellular companies are good at it’s ensuring a call can get from point A to point B (although AT&T has been sucking wind lately). It’s what they’ve been doing for almost two decades.
Now that Apple has lifted the ban VoIP over 3G – note it is Apple lifting these restrictions, not AT&T – you have to wonder what’s going on. Won’t 3G tear down the network around our ears? Won’t dogs and cats start living together?
Absolutely not. First, most international carriers have used 3G for calls for years, if not decades. When I was working as a telecoms consultant, back when WAP was a big roll-out, we already had 3G provisioning systems. Heck, some of my former colleagues were preparing video calling before America even knew how to spell Skype.
Why wasn’t it broadly used until now? Because carriers hadn’t stress-tested the network nor did they have billing methods in place. Thankfully, the iPhone 3G did most of the work for them, ensuring them that even under heavy use conditions most networks can survive intact.
Despite AT&T’s inability to hold a connection for more than a minute, 3G over VoIP adds a negligible amount of load to the 3G network and, more important, is billable. In an era of $29 unlimited plans, carriers can’t make money on regular old calls.
They can, however, make money on 3G data, especially in roaming. Anyone who’s ever been bit in the hindquarters by a massive roaming bill will know that data is precious. You can buy a 300MB roaming plan on AT&T for $59 or else pay thousands off plan. That’s 300MB. People are so used to always-on Internet that 300MB of 3G can be eaten up in a few days time, resulting in a quick flurry of SMSes to remind you that the meter is still running. While the average person eventually gives up and turns 3G off, the road warrior sees no need: after all, he’s not paying. In the end, you have a delightful group of roaming businessmen with five-figure cellphone bills.
Is this always the case? No. But it’s definitely on someone’s balance sheet at most carriers. Think of it as business class for wireless – there are plenty of folks who fly coach, but if you have a couple of suckers with an expense account, why not charge them a few thousand more for a glass of bubbly and a warm dinner?
Apple Lifts 3G VoIP Restrictions, iCall with 3G Support Available Immediately
iCall VoIP services for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch are now available for use over 3G networks such as AT&T wireless.
GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Apple Computer, Inc. has updated the iPhone developer SDK to allow VoIP over cellular networks. iCall is the first and only VoIP application that functions on the iPhone and iPod Touch over cellular 3G networks.
iCall is a market leader in desktop and mobile-based desktop calling platforms, including its highly popular version for the Apple iPhone. Until today, restrictions imposed on developers prohibited VoIP functionality on any 3G network.
VoIP on the iPhone has been the source of many debates with companies such as Google being denied access to the platform and the FCC inquiring as to the restrictions in the Apple App Store; iCall is one of the few VoIP applications that has been permitted by Apple to operate on the iPhone platform.
With the latest revisions Apple has made to the iPhone developer agreement and Software Development Kit, iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch now enabled unrestricted free local and long distance calling over 3G data networks. iCall with support for VoIP over 3G networks is now available in the App Store for download. iCall is the first and only VoIP application available for the iPhone platform that allows use over 3G networks. iCall for the iPhone and iPod Touch may now be downloaded from the App Store here.
iCall CEO Arlo Gilbert is quoted as saying, “I applaud Apple’s decision to allow iCall to extend its functionality beyond Wi-Fi and onto the 3G networks. This heralds a new era for VoIP applications on mobile platforms, especially for iCall and our free calling model. I hope that now more developers will begin using our VoIP as a platform to integrate VoIP into their applications.”
About iCall, Inc.:
iCall is a privately held company providing a free and low-cost VoIP calling platform that is currently available for your desktop PC, iPhone and iPod Touch. iCall saves consumers money on phone calling through ad-supported calling.iCall was founded in 2005 by Arlo Gilbert and Andy Muldowney with the goal of providing low and no-cost calling services to consumers. In January 2006, iCall first released its iCall Free Calling desktop application. iCall’s free calling network now boasts over more than 4 million unique downloads.
In addition to consumer products, iCall offers wholesale VoIP solutions and a developer platform through iCall Carrier Services. iCall’s private network carries over 350 million minutes of voice traffic per month to destinations around the globe.
This could be great news for replacing my 1st gen iPhone with an iPad, if the VOIP apps will be allowed to work in the background and ‘ring’ the device no matter what you are doing.
Without being able to run the VOIP app in the background, though, this doesn’t change much.
I’m sure we will soon see some jailbroken iPads, which will allow backgrounding :)
Just another post by techcrunch with unfounded attacks against AT&T. Why don’t you hacks do your job and offer some proof? Biggs and crew have wasted the last of their thin credibility. Good luck arrington.
Does this mean I can do skype over 3G?
I think Skype has to update the app first(?)
USA still in the stone age of mobile communication… I use voip in Nokia tablets and phones over 3G since 2005 at Europe. Even in Brazil since 2007 they are able to do it with Nokia phones… SHAME!!!
It’s not the stone age, its call taking every possible dollar from dumb consumers so as long as they can.
Apple is a sissy. What about native Google Voice? It is not VOIP right?
By “carriers,” you mean AT&T. The stress testing of the data networks of Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile haven’t happened in the same way that you’re suggesting and AT&T seems to have mostly failed in the area of 3G coverage and reliability. Further, the announcement is more about Apple releasing an arbitrary restriction in their API rather than a change of heart on the part of the carriers (excuse me, carrier).
And yet, for completely unrelated reasons, carriers (all of them) are happy to allow VoIP calls on their networks. It’s less to do with arbitrary roaming charges (get a bunch of data roaming and you just complain to the carrier and get it reversed. Ask any customer service rep for any carrier.) and more to do with the fact that it’s a way of getting more monthly revenue out of people on a regular basis. The one-time massive overage is forgiven, but the monthly data charge, in addition to the regular voice minute charge, allows a steady extra revenue stream. Voice minute prices have normalized, as have data plans, and the best way to make extra money now is to make sure you have both. Of course, standard voice radio is generally easier/better quality than VoIP, but the appeal of free/cheap international calling makes VoIP seem like a necessary addition.
Apple is not interested in making AT&T money. AT&T didn’t put any pressure on Apple to remove this restriction for any reason, much less to try to get some extra roaming dollars out of business travelers. But AT&T will reap the benefits of higher ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). And maybe they’ll put some of that back into the network so that all the iPhone users can make the occasional 4 minute+ phone call.
In the mean time, Fring works just fine on my Droid…
Decent article but factual inaccuracies kill your credibility. Att lifted this restriction months ago, Google it, I’m sure TC reported on it. 3g voip has worked on other carriers and platforms for years.
sigh, two minutes of research brings this up – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/06/att-greenlights-voip-for-the-iphone-too-bad-google-voice-isnt-voip/
want to rethink your article yet? The real question is why Apple enabled this now, probably just a timing issue.
this article is not about at&t…
Wait a sec. Does that mean that – when Skype updates its app, which will happen soon since they already told us in their blog that they have it on hand and were just waiting for this to happen – someone in the the US with a data flatrate can call me (Germany) via 3G while I’m on my pc and does not have to pay anything?
I DON’T mean Skype Mobile to Skype Mobile but Skype Mobile to Skype on my PC using my nickname and no number at all.
Please help me to understand this….
Thanks
Yes Dino you are correct, and this has been available for years on other phones like nokia, motorola, etc. Iphone software stopped the apps from using voip over 3G till now. But it’ll still be crap coz iphone cant multitask so anyone with an iphone will have to keep skype app open to recieve calls on skype.
Thank you very much! I got it now!
Too bad most people don’t realize that something like this is possible for years but instead they buy the crapple phone and praise it as a groundbreaking feature now.
Most of my US friends have an iPhone so at least it’s now possible to talk with them via Skype.
Better than nothing…
This article seems to mix up 3G and VoIP in several places. VoIP is the use of IP transport to send voice data, whether it’s on a wired Internet, or over radio connections, 3G being one type of radio transport that can handle IP traffic.
See the phrase “3G over VoIP adds…”
The man doesn’t know what he writes about. Sigh.
VoIP does put a considerable burden on 3G networks. With the commonly taken softphone route, an active VoIP call takes about 90kbps uplink and downlink. With more advanced codecs the bandwidth requirements drop to about a third of that, but softphones — downloadable VoIP apps — invariably don’t make use of these more efficient codecs. The irony is that all 3G phones already contain such a codec, but the 3rd-party VoIP apps can’t tap into it. It’s time all the handset manufacturers get in on the game and integrate VoIP properly into their products.
Handset manufacturers won’t do this because it will cause wireless carriers to avoid making deals exclusivity deals with certains phones if people can make VOIP calls instead of paying $$$ a month.
The end game is you just pay a reasonable monthly access fee and a reasonable per-byte fee. This would encourage the most efficient codecs, an all IP network, fair pricing, real competition, etc. My MVNO charges $2/mo and $1.20 per MB. That’s about 2 cents a minute for a 16KBps Skype call (plus POTS charges if your not going VoIP to VoIP). So, it’s close to being competitive already.
Ahum, Nokia’s been doing this for years. HP had the iPAQ 512 with integrated VoIP.
The carrier hegemony isn’t set in stone.
looking forward to more posts. keep up the good work
VoIP sucks on 3G and will suck until carrier reduce latency on backhaul networks. They will in 2012 or so. Until then, like talking to the moon.
I’m hoping we’ll see VoIP-over-LTE launches in 2011 that do away with the latency and bandwidth issues of 3G. It’ll be interesting to see if the carriers force the handset manufacturers to lock down the VoIP clients so that they only work with their own services. Will Google stand for it?
it`s here, view 4all2c.biz