Engin, a leading Australian VoIP service provider, today announced that users of Nokia (News - Alert) N80 Internet Edition handset can now make use of the Engin network to make mobile VoIP calls. The company feels that the price difference between VoIP calls and the traditional mobile phone calls could ring trouble for cellular operators.


At the current rate, Engin can offer calls in the US for about 10 cents per minute, whereas a traditional mobile phone operator will charge you around 30 cents per minute. If a user is within the reach of a wireless hotspot, they can make 10-cent un-timed calls to Australian landlines, and 20-cent un-timed overseas calls.

Although this sounds enticing, it is certainly not new. Leading VoIP service provider Skype already offers mobile call rates of 26.4 cents a minute and landline call rates of 2.7 cents a minute. Also, Skype (News - Alert) will soon launch a domestic plan for Australian customers where users can pay a connection fee and forego per-minute charges.

Skype uses a third party program called iskoot to bring the Skype client to the mobile phone. The service is similar to that offered by Engin. The major difference between the two services is while Engin uses wireless hotspots to connect the user to VoIP service, iskoot uses the mobile phone carrier’s data network to do the same. Iskoot supports various Motorola (News - Alert), Nokia and Palm handsets. Although users of Skype's mobile VoIP will save big on their phone calls, they have to pay for additional data usage.

VoIP service providers have recognized the trend log before and have been offering tailor made products to provide VoIP over the mobile phones. Netgear’s Skype WiFi phone and the upcoming D-Link AirPlusG mobile were designed specifically for VoIP and they do not support mobile phone networks. They connect to the VoIP services to the wireless hotspots, just like Nokia N80.

Even though VoIP phone calls come at a cheaper rate, they are not as popular with the masses in Australia as they are in US because of the lack of availability of free wireless hotspots. But the Australian government is taking measures to install free wireless hotspots throughout the Sydney and other major centers by early 2008. While this can take care of the basic connectivity issues, complete coverage of wireless hotspots is still a distant dream. This means it will be a while before Australians say goodbye to their traditional mobile phone networks!

While traditional mobile phone networks may not fade away in the near future, VoIP phones are here to make their mark. Due to the cheap call rates and wide availability, the future of mobile communications depends largely on these new VoIP services. Eventually, VoIP will take over the existing mobile phone networks as they clear the technical hurdles they are facing right now.

The future belongs to VoIP!

Want the latest scoop on all things VoIP? Make sure you attend INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo East, January 23-26, 2007 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While you’re waiting for the show to start, check out Rich Tehrani’s analysis of the communications industry in 2007.

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Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.