Mobile VoIP Coming into Its Own

Jajah, which we talked about earlier this week, isn’t the only mobile VoIP provider out there. Another one making a similar announcement recently was Fring, a software-based system that is otherwise similar to Jajah’s.

Microsoft, too, is looking to jump on the Mobile VoIP bandwagon, as next week’s unveiling of Windows Mobile 6 will show. That unveiling will take place at 3GSM, Barcelona’s annual gathering of mobile tech providers and gurus, and it likely won’t be the only offering on the table.

Since the meteoric rise of Skype, a large handful of companies have been pursuing the technology, with mixed results. Uplink speed is still a significant downside to Mobile VoIP. Add to that cellular service providers’ natural resistance to what they see as competition, and you have an idea whose time has come but whose ship has yet to come in.

It would seem a natural thing, as more and more mobile phones are equipped with the software and architecture to make an Internet connection, for Mobile VoIP to evolve into an everyday occurrence. After all, if all you need is an Internet connection to make a phone call and you have a phone that has an Internet connection, then how many more dots do you need to connect?

It’s not that simple, as Skype has discovered. The VoIP pioneer can certainly take the sting out of the price of a phone call, but it can’t do a whole lot about how much your cellular provider is charging you for your minutes. There’s the rub indeed.

Yet Mobile VoIP is here to stay. As more and more independents like Fring and Jajah enter the fray, the titans of the industry will come onboard, perhaps bundling Internet calling with existing services. That, probably, is where we’re headed.