Tag Archives: VoIP

VoIP Networks Withstand Volume

Posted on 8 July 2005 | Leave a comment

The Toronto Globe and Mail has an article about how the London-area telecommunications infrastructure fared in the wake of yesterday’s blasts. It seems that mobile and PSTN (traditional landline) networks suffered from volume overloads. This is to be expected, and I remember the same on 9/11 when AOL Instant Messenger effectively became the only way I could communicate when all phones stopped working. What is very interesting to read is that voice over IP networks were not affected by the spike in volume:

High-speed Internet services and voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones weren’t affected by the increased network traffic volumes, British carriers said.

There s a column in the Globe and Mail that goes into a little bit more detail about the whys and hows of telecommunications network failures. There are some technical errors in the column, including the fact that not all VoIP is peer-to-peer, as the column states. That aside, the author, Jack Kapicka, makes a good point about the minimal impact a VoIP call has on the average broadband connection. The average broadband connection has capacity measured in megabits, while most VoIP calls require only a few kilobytes. Some services offer VoIP calling at near mobile quality for around 8 Kbps. In other words, there’s usually plenty of excess capacity to support a VoIP call. The fact that VoIP is packet capacity rather than a dedicated circuit (as is a traditional landline call) also helps get more traffic through when volume spikes.

One other aspect of voice over IP’s ability to survive the disaster may indicate is of general overcapacity on VoIP networks. This is a technology in its early stages of mass adoption. Perhaps VoIP infrastructure would not fare as well if a truly mass audience were using the platform. I’m thinking specifically of servers and number mapping infrastructure that could be impacted by a huge spike in volume of VoIP calls. I dont have the technical wherewithal to consider all of the specifics without doing some research.

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Voice over Wi-Fi Another Strategic Dimension

Posted on 17 May 2005 | Leave a comment

The industry newsletter FierceWireless just announced the Fierce 15 for 2005.

I was curious to see that 3 of the 15 companies are focusing their business plans around the integration of mobile and Voice over IP technology. This raised a question in my head about how thrilled the wireless carriers themselves would be (or in this case not) to see customers have the ability to bypass their networks using voice over Internet. Specifically looking at environments where customers can connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to a computer or router to use the Internet to make calls. Everybody gets all worked up about users being able to use voice over Wi-Fi from hotspots, but I actually think more popular locations for this would be from work or home. Witness, for example, that Vonage and Skype recently making pushing into integrating Wi-Fi phones into their offerings, primarily intended for home or office use.

What this integration would really result in would be customers able to use their mobiles at home or work and completely bypass the carriers network. These are two places where customers spend a lot of time, so this development would really cut in to customer usage of their services. Functions like SMS and data services would also be able to bypass the carriers and run over the Internet.

One significant challenge which could represent a roadblock to consumer freedom is the question of call switching on the public telephone network. Carriers still hold a good number of cards in that regard, and its going to be a challenge to route calls over the appropriate infrastructure without their participation in some way. In other words, users will not have the convenience of a single contact number until carriers agree to play ball (or are forced to do so).

There are any number of strategic implications for companies involved in the voice and mobile services space. Wireless carriers such as Verizon Wireless, Cingular and others should be prepared to focus more on custom applications and information services independent of infrastructure, including perhaps adopting the routing of calls over the Internet as a value-added service of their offerings. They should also be prepared to see a big hit in their per-minute and data usage rates and adjust their price plans accordingly.

Mobile phone manufacturers stand to take back some power from the carriers in all of this. Ive written a couple of times now about how the dominance of the carrier is putting handcuffs on manufacturers, as demonstrated by Motorolas delayed introduction of the iPhone (presumably on the objection of a major carrier partner). Once again this presents the manufacturer an opportunity to market the device independently from the carrier.

Voice over Wi-Fi and mobile virtual network operators (mentioned earlier) are just two of the many strategic issues leaders in this industry segment need to keep in mind as they move into the future.

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Another Thought on VoIP Port Blocking

Posted on 4 March 2005 | Leave a comment

This morning I thought of another argument against telcos and cable companies blocking VoIP traffic terminating on their broadband connections. Appeals to fair play are all well and good, but really get nowhere when an entrenched business model is being challenged. Arguments that network neutrality is the price to pay for access to public rights of way, while it makes logical sense, is likely to be a shrinking violet in the face of intense lobby effort at all levels of government by those entrenched business interests. But liability could get them every time:

If the ISP arms of local exchange carriers or cable operators are going to take the action to block competing VoIP traffic, would that not also open them up to liability for all of the IP-based content that they are allowing through? Content companies could sue ISPs for allowing trading of digital music and movies, e-mail customers could sue them for allowing SPAM to arrive in their in-box, parents and localities could sue them for allowing pornography to move across their network. If you’re going to take active measures to block one kind of traffic, doesn’t it then become a valid argument to expect you to block other kinds of traffic?

Granted, I would not be happy to see these requirements placed upon ISPs, but it does pose a potentially interesting legal argument for while telecom carriers and cable providers should not be allowed to block the traffic of competing VoIP services.

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Rural Telco Blocking VoIP

Posted on 3 March 2005 | Leave a comment

A few weeks back we heard complaints from voice over IP provider Vonage that voice over IP traffic was being blocked by a rural local exchange carrier. None of the news sites named the carrier, but a settlement with the FCC has outed the carrier as being Madison River Communications. The whole story on the $15,000 fine can be found here.

Based in North Carolina, Madison River own several rural telco companies, including the telco that services the small town where I grew up and my parents still live. I have to say Im very disappointed by their choice to block traffic from competitors. Madison River are planning an IPO, and the cantankerous coot in me is considering buying some shares in part to gripe about this sort of practice.

Based on my reading of the order from the FCC, what I think was the basis of the initial problem is that a Madison River DSL customer who signed up for voice over IP service from Vonage found that the IP traffic underpinning the service was being blocked by Madison River. According to the FCC order Madison River had employed an IP port blocking technique which prevented Vonage voice traffic moving over the Internet backbone from reaching the customers VoIP converter box plugged into their Madison River-provided DSL connection.

As part of the settlement with the FCC Madison River have agreed to pay $15,000 and not block VoIP traffic for 30 month. What the heck is going on here? I cannot for the life of me understand why the prohibition is for only 30 months. If the practice is wrong, its wrong, eh?

Truth be told, Madison River didn’t really break any specific laws (so far as I can tell) as opposed to violating a sense of fair play. To my mind, neutrality with respect to the IP traffic moving across your network infrastructure constitutes fair play. With telcos like Madison River blocking VoIP traffic and SBC introducing “voluntary” VoIP tariffs it’s only going to be a matter of time before some sort of regulatory action is going to need to be taken to ensure termination of voice over IP traffic on telco and cable networks. This is the very least to demand of owners of infrastructure that have benefited from access to public rights of way and decades of captive markets.

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Virginia Raising Taxes on VoIP and Sat TV

Posted on 2 February 2005 | Leave a comment

According to the Washington Post, the Virginia General Assembly is considering a law that would re-stack the deck on taxing of telecommunications services. The law is supported by Governor Warner, and would impost state taxes on satellite TV and voice over IP services. As a customer of both services I can’t say I’m thrilled to hear about this.

I’m not sure that this legislation doesn’t run afoul of recent FCC decisions to keep state regulators from imposing regulations on voice over IP services. Granted the FCC decision doesn’t address taxes specifically, but the trend seems to be toward keeping states away from VoIP.

All that said, who knows what the tone of the FCC will be once Michael Powell departs. He has certainly set a certain tone for how the FCC manages emerging technologies. A new Comish could always take a different approach, one that looks more favorably on taxing VoIP.

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Money back for VoIP In-bound?

Posted on 9 December 2004 | Leave a comment

I saw this comment on Slashdot and it made me wonder whether this is really the case. Are there VoIP providers offering money off/back for customers with incoming calls? What would the business model for the VoIP provider even be on this? If I could speculate, perhaps this is the result of some oddball settlement regime in Poland. Anywho, here’s the post:

I’ve got VoIP phone from my cable provider. Nothing special, it’s Europe/Poland, so nothing as fancy as unlimited national etc, but cheaper and more reliable that monopolistic national telco. If I got spams on it I’d welcome them with “could you wait just a sec” and happily counted 0.03pln (about $0.01) per minute I get for incoming calls off my bill ;)

This post appeared in the Slashdot discussion on Vonage and VoicePule launching their own Video over IP offerings. My own take on these annoucements is to wonder aloud why would someone shell out for an expensive videophone when computer accessories that do the same job (such as Apple’s iSight) can be had so much more cheaply. I still haven’t shelled out for anything like the iSight yet– I struggle to see the real application of being able to see somebody while I’m talking to them– possible exceptions being limited opportunities for group conversations and perhaps some naughty possibilities. One of the things I’ve always liked about voice communication and standard IM is that you can multitask while it’s going on. Video kind of closes that window and locks you into one place at one time.

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SBC’s TIPToP Dissected

Posted on 3 December 2004 | Leave a comment

A company called HLT Technologies has published an excellent dissection of the real impact of SBC’s new TIPToP interconnect tariff for VoIP carriers.

It seems that SBC really are looking for a backdoor to charge significant fees for VoIP carriers to interconnect with their own network. Particularly troubling to my mind are the conditions SBC apply to VoIP carriers in order for them to be compliant and eligible for the TIPToP tariff as opposed to a significantly higher (700 percent!) interconnect charge. For example (from the report):

  • Calls must originate from a high speed direct connection and must use IP throughout the connection
  • Calls must have an accurate and valid North American number (so dont try to use TIPToP for terminating overseas originating traffic)
  • No more than 50% of the traffic on any one port may have the same state for the originating and terminating number otherwise all of the traffic in that LATA will be billed at the NON IP-VIS rate. (which is easily possible in California or Texas)
  • All traffic terminating in a LATA must use TIPToP (so no least cost routing schemes may be employed).



I can’t even begin to explain everything that’s wrong with those requirements. No termination of international calls under the tariff? That just doesn’t make any sense. The inter-state calling requirement is going to make customers with a large number of in-state friends, family and business associates a burden for VoIP carriers.

Lest we forget that one of the whole POINTS of VoIP is to eliminate the costs associated with the distance of a call. SBC doesn’t face additional costs for terminating an international or in-state call any more than it does to terminate a call from the next state over. If SBC doesn’t face additional costs to terminate the call, what justification can there be to charge different termination fees other than an attempt to manipulate the market to harm VoIP carriers?

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SunRocket Cutting VoIP Pricing– Igniting a Price War?

Posted on 27 November 2004 | 7 Comments

Over at VOIP Watch Andy is asking what is going on with SunRocket slashing their prices for VoIP. SunRocket is a VoIP service provider based in Vienna, Virginia founded by some ex-MCI executives. Comments Andy:

I’m not impressed when a company launches saying what they are doing out of the box is giving great value, then they have to lower their pricing so quickly.

I have to say I agree, and here’s the deal: these are ex-MCI executives. WorldCom and subsequently MCI’s method in competitive situations is to aim to be the rock-bottom price point. For better or worse this isn’t a company that’s ever sold on the value of what it delivers as opposed to being so much cheaper than its competitors. This is the background of the folks at SunRocket, so theyre just sticking to what they know.

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SBC Adding “Voluntary?” Tariff for VoIP Providers?

Posted on 17 November 2004 | Leave a comment

Over at VoIP Watch there is a piece on how SBC are introducing a new tariff structure for VoIP service providers terminating calls on their PSTN network. I read about this first on the Wall Street Journal site, but since that requires a subscription I wanted provide a link where you can get more info than just my ramblings.

SBC are trying to get VoIP providers to pay a new tariff rate that is above traditional charges for the termination of local calls, which most VoIP providers have been paying up to now, but allegedly less than what long-distance providers pay to terminate calls. You may remember about a year back one of the scandals surrounding MCI was how they had begun routing calls over a VoIP connection and masking the origination number in an effort to avoid long-distance termination charges and take advantage of lower local termination rates. SBC appear to be trying to narrow that cost arbitrage advantage and perhaps strangle newer VoIP market entrants such as Vonage or Skype (with their SkypeOut offering). Is it a coincidence that the new tariff is announced the same day that SBC announce their plans for their own VoIP service? Probably not. Can we expect the other RBOCs to close ranks behind SBC as the FCC and the courts consider the move? You bet your sweet bippy. (P.S. I may be mis-spelling bippy.)

There are a few comments in the WSJ article that gave me a real WTF!? moment. Please allow me to share:

“SBC recognizes that there is disagreement in the communications industry over the appropriate rates that [Internet phone] providers should pay when connecting to the circuit-switched network,” said James Smith, SBC’s senior vice president. “Contrary to the mistaken impressions of some parties who are trying to sow regulatory confusion, Tiptop is not a mandatory service.”

FYI Tiptop is what SBC are calling the new tariff. I find it somewhat off they felt the need to brand a tariff rate, but no matter

FCC officials asked SBC to put the “voluntary” promise into writing to ensure the company wouldn’t in the future cut off alternative ways to connect. The company hasn’t done so yet, though both sides are working on draft language that would resolve this issue.

Voluntary? Why the hell would any VoIP provider voluntarily pay more to terminate their calls? What would the benefits of that be. I have wonder if we cant expect calls from VoIP providers who choose not to pay the higher tariff to face any sort of problems such as higher percentages of call completion failures, lower call sound quality or failure to extend signaling elements to enable features such as caller ID. I guess we will see, but anytime one of the Bell companies can define something as voluntary you know damn well that in the end it will be anything but.

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Network Neutrality and VoIP

Posted on 28 October 2004 | Leave a comment

I came across this piece on Techdirt which links to a blog entry claiming that BT (my former employer) appear to be blocking port 5060, which is one of the standard UDP ports that Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) uses to set up telephone exchanges. Without knowing the nitty-gritty, this would appear to challenge the ability of customers to use a SIP-based VoIP service such as Skype. The supposition seems to be that BT have done this (if indeed this is not a mistake on someone’s part) to push DSL customers to BT’s retail voice offering.

There have been rumors of things like this on our side of the pond as well. A while back it appeared that Adelphia (my cable Internet provider) may have been blocking their customers from using AT&T CallVantage. Elsewhere in this blog I’ve moaned about Verizon VoiceWing blocking modem calls from DirecTV units while Vonage allows them. This second example isn’t quite the same as what BT are being accused of doing, but it all goes toward the same violation of the notion of neutral networks.

The Techdirt piece hints towards calls that the FCC take some sort of action to ensure network neutrality. It’ll be sad if the situation has to come to that. I would hope broadband providers would realize the financial benefits of letting customers use the applications they wish over their network. If users are throttled back in terms of what they can do with broadband, they may come to the conclusion that broadband isn’t worth the cost.

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