Voice over WiFi is great, but not a revolution

see Optus launches native Voice over Wi-Fi from CommsDay (PayWall) Just a quick comment. This is really good, that an Australian ISP is choose to provide such a service. There will be many useful scenarios for this. However, this shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for mobile cellular networks. 4G/5G and new spectrum appear to... View Article

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see Optus launches native Voice over Wi-Fi from CommsDay (PayWall)

Just a quick comment.

This is really good, that an Australian ISP is choose to provide such a service. There will be many useful scenarios for this. However, this shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for mobile cellular networks. 4G/5G and new spectrum appear to be the best solution for improving coverage and speed longterm. A customer need only have a single plan, with great service and less complexity. In the medium term, I’m sure 5G will only be deployed in higher spectrum bands which often won’t penetrate into buildings, so WiFi is complimentary. However, spectrum will continue to open up in the lower bands (I’ve got an article about this somewhere, I’m sure) and enable a more centralised mobile service, which will be less dependent on WiFi to fill in gaps.

(The same goes for Telstras WiFi payphone hotspots. Great to see ISPs trying new things, but I think we’ll find mobile internet with higher download volumes will win)