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Kineto Wireless has announced “Smart VoIP,” said to be the first VoIP application specifically developed for mobile operators who want to compete in the over the top voice business.

Kineto’s Smart VoIP runs on Apple iPhone, Android (News - Alert) and Windows Mobile operating systems and is intended to be branded by mobile operators and downloaded to subscribers through standard application stores.

The Smart VoIP application works over Wi-Fi as well as 3G and LTE (News - Alert) mobile networks with the option to work only over Wi-Fi networks when subscribers travel internationally.

Smart VoIP enables mobile operators to deliver an OTT VoIP service that is positioned as a logical extension to subscribers’ main mobile voice service.

The Smart VoIP solution enables operators to leverage their existing R4 or IMS voice infrastructure, Kineto Wireless (News - Alert) says.

“Kineto’s Smart VoIP solution is the first designed specifically for mobile operators to address the growing threat from 3rd party over-the-top voice services like Skype and Google Voice,” said Steve Shaw (News - Alert), vice president of marketing for Kineto.

The capability highlights strategic choices service providers now face in voice, messaging and video areas. There are times when a service provider might simply decide a new service should not be adopted too early, because of the impact on important legacy services the new services displace.

In other cases, executives might decide that a key legacy service simply should be harvested and cannot be defended fully at current price levels. It is not just voice strategy that now has to be considered. Messaging and video are other key products that arguably could be supported in an over the top manner. The issue is whether any particular service provider ought to do so.

In many cases, executives might conclude that “now” is not the time to embrace substitute products, though agreeing that, eventually, such an embrace might be desirable or inevitable.

Up to this point, many leading incumbent service providers have concluded that staying out of some new OTT businesses makes better business sense. But such judgments are likely to require increasing scrutiny over time.

There is a tipping point where any particular service provider might arguably make more money by switching than resisting particular new services that cannibalize existing revenue streams and services.