Going mobile with service providers

Like millions of other people grinding out a daily commute, I have come to rely upon my cell phone as more than just a convenient way to check the movie listings. I am lucky; my Service Provider was an early adapter to mobility, which was very fortunate for me because it has become my constant companion, a tool that I rely upon from my first waking hour until I go to sleep at night. Look on any train, bus, plane, restaurant and you will see the same thing: people clutching their mobile handset, typing away with their thumbs.

All of this made me wonder what was happening in the mobile marketplace. Philippe Babin General Manager  of Media5 Corporation, sat down to discuss what new tools were coming for us mobile road warriors.  

I assume that you are like a lot of us out there a Mobile Road Warrior?

PB: Yes, very much so. In fact, even in the office I rely upon my smart phone as much or even more than my laptop. You can see more and more people are becoming like us. In fact I just read a study where the applications market will actually triple in the next 2 years reaching between 9 - 12 billion dollars in revenue. What is even more interesting is that it is expected to increase to over 25 billion by 2014.

The Service Provider market too is seeing adaptation of Mobility. Several studies suggest that more than 50% of consumers will use Mobile VoIP via their mobile VoIP providers.

Another interesting prediction in my opinion is that by 2013 it is expected that there will be well over 400 million dual-mode handsets (Wi-Fi + Cellular).

Why would a Service Provider introduce Mobility as part of their overall package?

PB: This is a very fast growing market full of opportunities for Service Providers. For example Carriers in the US are now allowing VoIP over 3G over their HSPA/3G networks, like AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The European market has shown an even greater momentum, as the smatphone market grew over 32% last year alone, and is expected to surpass it this year.

 This is a clear opportunity for all Service Providers worldwide to follow suit to offer mobile communications as part of their business and enterprise communications solutions within their SIP Trunk and IP-Centrex product portfolio.

Therefore, Service Providers can increase their ARPU (average revenue per user/subscriber/customer) when selling mobility as an add-on to their business solutions.

They can also increase customer retention and reduce CHURN rate by offering mobile VoIP services and solutions such as mVoIP over Wi-Fi, over 3F, Presence, IM, etc.

Tell us about what Mobile Solutions Media5 has for the Service Provider?

PB: As part of our innovation process at Media5 we continuously look for new opportunities and Mobility was fully in line with our strategic assets and core skills. We have recently released the Media5-fone, which is part of an overall mobility solution portfolio for Service providers targeting businesses and enterprises with Hosted Communication Services, like IP-Centrex, and with SIP trunks.

 Media5-fone is a mobile softclient that allows end-users to work efficiently as if they were sitting at their office desk. It is easy to Install and deploy, and runs on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad as well as Nokia handsets. It is also highly interoperable with other solutions from manufacturers like Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, Asterisk, OpenSIPS, and Kamaillio.

The Media5-fone relies upon field-proven VoIP technology (M5T SIP Client Engine SDK + GIPS audio & video mobile engine), and of interest is that it is the only solution on the market today that offers HD Voice for clear and more understandable communications.

What do you think the future holds for Mobility and for Media5 in this market?

PB: Mobility is here to stay, and as we have seen it will more than triple over the next few years. We are strong believers in this technology and we plan to remain at the forefront. In fact in the short run we are looking at adding to the usability and functionality of the Media5-fone, including:

-        Support for Mobile Video Conferencing and communications,

-        Covering other platforms such as Android, Blackberry

-        Bringing the application PacketCable 2.0 and IMS certified (Realtime Communication Suite (RCS) GSMA compliant).

-        Having a PC Edition since Service Providers are now selling Netbooks as mobile devices with 3G subscriptions.

With service providers jumping on board the "Mobility Express," it makes it a lot easier for all of us Mobile Road Warriors to stay in touch. The only thing we need to work on now is the traffic in the morning.

To learn more about Media5 Corporation and its line of leading VoIP solutions and services, please visit www.media5corp.com or info@media5corp.com.