Cheaper alternative to mobile phone calls?

Posted on July 6, 2006 / 6 Comments

BBC News | Taipei to embrace net telephones

The city of Taipei, in Taiwan, could have 200,000 people making phone calls using wi-fi by the end of 2006.
Ten companies are pushing a “Taipei Easy Call” initiative which involves mobiles which can switch between calls using wi-fi and the phone network.

“If this is successful, then the model could be copied in cities elsewhere in the world,” said Daniel Wongg, of the Taipei Computer Association.

The wi-fi mobiles provide a cheaper alternative to mobile phone calls.

“This is the world’s first internet phone system using the whole city, rather than a spot, as a wireless operation environment,” Mr Wongg told AFP news agency.

The initiative also involves switching schools and government offices from the traditional phone network to one using internet phones, known as Voice over Internet Protocol (Voip).

Before the end of August, hundreds of schools will be installed with an internet telephony system and 400,000 school children, parents and teachers will be encouraged to use the new system.

The mayor of the city, Ma Ying-jeou, said that the money the city saves from using the new system in schools will help provide better lunches for students.

6 Comments

sam
July 6, 2006, 11:21 pm
Hey TRC guys. This is good news for you. Make a plan to license this and ban import of wi-fi mobile phone to Sri Lanka now. I wonder what can be the license fee for this? hmm. how about 6 million dollars?
Dilruk
July 7, 2006, 11:33 pm
Sri Lanka plans to issue spectrum for 3G phones next week

July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to issue spectrum for third generation or next generation mobile technology to cellular phone operators next week, the telecom watchdog said Thursday.

Priced at 5-million dollars, third generation or 3G licenses allow operators to offer higher speed wireless services on the 2GHz (gigahertz band).

“All four existing mobile phone operators have asked for spectrum and we will issue it next week,” Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General Kanchana Ratwatte told LBO.

Using 3G technology mobile phone operators can offer high speed internet connections to browse the web, receive emails and even make and receive faster video calls.

“It’s the portability and the flexibility that is attractive for mobile phone users,” Ratwatte said.

Telecommunications is one of the fastest growing sectors in the island and is supported by a ceasefire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, entered into in 2002, which is helping mobile phone operators expand coverage in previously war-torn areas.

Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, dominates the island’s 3.7 million subscriber base with around 60 percent market share, followed by Mobitel Lanka, Celltel Lanka and Hutchison.

Dialog is currently offering 3G test runs and hopes to offer high speed internet access on mobile phones later this year.
revantha
July 10, 2006, 2:15 pm
NON VOICE TELEPHONY ?????

Can Some body please explain me as to the exact meaning of the phrase “Non Voice Telephony, this was the heading of a recently floated add on the papers by TRC, all this while I thought Telephony is about Voice , but never knew a non voice version of it..
S. Seneviratne
July 19, 2006, 9:04 am
Dear Revantha,

It is unfortunate that the Telecom industry is coining terms, amounting jargon, sometimes utterly contradictory terms like non-voice telephony.

Phone in greek means voice tellus means distance. Thus Telephony means the means of methods of sending voice to distance beyond the audible range.

The term telephony could have adjectives like internet, thus the term internet telephony implying that the transmission is through the internet.

Clearly the adjective voice has no place. Though people use it the term voice telephony is bad as saying “a one place”.

Hence in the strictest terms the word non-voice telephony is something that does not exist. (By definition of telephony).

However, some regulators such as those in Bosnia use the term non-voice telephony but within brackets they describe it as Internet and Data Services.

In my opinion it is not good this kind of term. The regulators in any industry must use words with explicit meanings

Regards

S. Sene
Revantha
July 19, 2006, 8:41 pm
Hi Sene,

Many thanks for the clarification, guess the might regulator has got stuck in selecting the appropriate terminology to say “Transmit only Video but not voice ” since the advertisemnet was specifically geared towards the cable tv type operators….

Thx..

Revantha
Ranil
August 2, 2006, 10:03 am
Dear S, Seneviratne,

I saw your reply to Revantha,. So What do you really mean by “Non-Voice Telephony Services using Cable Distribution Network & Satellite Communication Networks”??? Any Basic Idea???