As previously said, my post “10 reasons why VoIP has succeeded” has led to variegated comments around the blogsphere. Last but not least, Jon Arnold shares his view on this “hot” subject.
First of all, thanks Jon for sharing your comments, much appreciated. Jon, as many others, points out that we should first share a common definition for “success”.
If we’re talking success in terms of profits, VoIP so far is not a success. If we’re talking success for the innovators and risk takers, it’s certainly true for the likes of Niklas Zennstrom, Jeff Citron and Jeff Pulver. But for every one of these, there are dozens, if not more who haven’t made it.
I could agree, but I would like to underline what I do believe is an important point. Reason #7 in my list is “competition”. As Jon says, dozens of new VoIP operators came out, trying to competing with…. those who provided them with PSTN terminations and services, carriers and incumbents. Some of them created their own small business, others entered the deadpool in a few months. Despite this, this fervid activity in the VoIP space has shaken the market creating new business opportunities (what about VoIP devices ? headsets ? ATAs ?) and starting a long training activity in favor of final users.
This said, Jon suggests to add Vonage to my list. Actually, they acted exactly as stated above, working hard to create a strong brand awareness, teaching customers and, finally, making a (much discussed) IPO. On the other hand, I disagree with Jon, since I don’t think Vonage is the Kleenex of VoIP. In US, maybe, not worldwide. Kleenex is Kleenex worldwide, Vonage is not. In my opinion, Skype is the Kleenex of VoIP. For most “normal” users, Skype equals VoIP, that’s a matter of evidence.
Moreover, Jon makes another important point: no profits.
No profits! In your list of 10 reasons, you cited free calls and Asterisk. Both are great for end users, but they sure make it hard for operators to turn a profit with VoIP. This is probably the biggest holdback of them all – we don’t have large scale, proven business models for VoIP. It’s a key reason why the big telcos will be the last to roll out VoIP – both wireline and wireless.
I agree, no one has still proven that VoIP, taken as a replacement of the primary telephone line, can be profitable. On the other hand, the game must be played in the field of new services and not fighting each other trying to make the cheaper offering for final users.
In conclusion, I still confirm my view: VoIP is successful. Yes, we can still find many weak points but I do believe all of us involved in VoIP are going to the right direction in order to make it more and more successful.
p.s. is e-mail successful ? I would say yes, definitely. But it’s far from being profitable… On the other hand, VoIP is an application (as Jeff is highlighting since ten years ago), so we must tune the meaning of “successful” keeping in mind this fundamental fact.
Technorati Tags: jon arnold, luca filigheddu, successful, voip
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