Don’t block Mobile VoIP, just charge more for it
That’s exactly what Duetsche Telekom, T-Mobile parent and one of the world’s largest mobile operators, is doing.
Duetsche Telekom, which until today had banned access to VoIP services over their wireless networks, has announced new plans that will allow it’s users to pay an additional fee for the ability to place VoIP calls. The plans, which start at EUR 9.99, will be tiered based on usage.
This news is a victory for consumers (and mobile VoIP providers) who’ve been snubbed by carriers and a sign that the “tides are continuing to change” with respects to mobile carrier bans on VoIP services. Some may argue that VoIP is just an application or utility, like Google, and thus shouldn’t have to pay extra to use it.
I say take what you can get.
And while it’s still not the end goal, paying $10 for access is a small price when compared to the fees one could rack up making international calls at Duetsche Telekom’s rates.
7 Comments
Maybe it is now time to take my jail-broken ATT-free iPhone to T-Mobile for a nice shiny SIM chip?
@ John
I suspect you’ll see this sort of plan roll out in the states very soon.
My position is that if you charge for it, you have to support it. That means if they want to get me to pay extra to be able to run VoIP over a 3G connection, I damn well better be able to call them if my call quality is bad, as long as I can show that it works fine over some other connection. If they don’t want to support it, they have no reason to charge for it. I’ll stick to running VoIP unsupported and technically against the ToS on my AT&T and Sprint 3G links when I’m mobile.
I agree with Sean, some times voice quality on Mobile VoIP was really bad, I only found one VoIP i.e. Vopium which has a good voice quality no matter it was VoIP, Wi-fi or GSM technology…
@ Sean
That’s certainly a valid position, although carriers aren’t really known for their customer service.
Hello.
Did anyone heard about Skype on your “3” mobile in the UK? I have Skype on my mobile for free and any calls made between Skype users is for free too, including international calls for almost no money. I dont think that the T-mobile offer in Germany is any good one. But, please correct me if I am wrong.
Same old story with VoIP. They are providing only bandwith, that is what they should charge for. If a customer wants quality of service, then charge extra for the bandwidth. But for most of us that best effort is enough, I see no reason for either block it or charge more. If the business model for Mobile providers is getting to an end, well they should be aware and change in order to be profitable and have a long term business model