Vonage appears to want to target the wireless amrket, as it’s now poised to release a WiFi Voice Over IP phone. Once released, Vonage subscribers can make unlimited wireless calls using a WiFi public hotspot.
Interesting idea. The story mentions and even seems to emphasize that idea that the phone will work best in free hotspots. I wonder how (or even if) Vonage plans to have this phone deal with hotspots where you must pay a fee for access, or authenticate yourself. Since there’s really no standard interface for paying or logging into to these hotspots, there might have to be a small web browser interface on the phone to allow this.
Will it be a cell phone killer? Again, there’s hints towards that, but I doubt it, at least for a good long while. Wifi hotspots are becoming more common, but their range is limited and the coverage isn’t nearly as good as that afforded by “traditional” wireless phone networks. In fact, many cell phone users opt for a tethered connection in the many places where WiFi coverage doesn’t exist (it’s not always kosher, but it happens).
I also wonder: are these WiFi phone calls encrypted? The article doesn’t say. If not, I’d be extremely wary of using such a device, as anyone could just capture the packets being sent “in the clear” and extract the audio. Considering that sometimes you can’t really tell who is operating a free hotspot (or what their motivation might be for offering it for free). At least on a traditional (digital) cell phone, there’s reasonable protections in place that while not perfect, they help ensure that Joe Blow with a scanner and packet sniffer won’t be able to eavesdrop unless he’s really, really motivated to do so.
Finally, I worry that WiFi phones will bring a whole new level of ire against people who use wireless phones and can’t practice proper ettiquette in using one. Can you imagine a bunch of people in a Starbucks on their WiFi phones, all chanting “Can you hear me now?” And they can’t take their calls outside, because the hotspot’s signal might not reach that far. Quite the conundrum.