Its not 'if' but 'when' calls will become free of charge

The telecom world is changing so fast these days. Not only is there a change in technology, but also a change in business models. I was reading a new item on Jagah, a PC based VoIP service provider. This company is planning to offer voice calls to the mobile, akin to the calling card world, but cheaper. If this offering along with several others come to mainstream, mobile service providers revenue stream from call processing and call transport will shrink. The will reduce these entities to charge for their connection (read to the web). The sad part will be the amount of mobile trunks and gateways that will become non-performing assets. In view of this, I would advise mobile service providers to get into managed contracts with the infrastructure providers and integrators and pay them a part of your accruals. This will help the mobile service providers adapt their business models and also share risks with partners.

From the consumers point of view, this is just amazing. Who doesn't want cheaper service. The only hitch will revolve around QoS and I personally believe that quality can be improved. Another problem will be around billing. The consumer might end up paying more than one service provider to stay connected to the web using the mobile device.

Finally, the looming threat of such a substitution will play a role in reducing the high service costs, a benefit consumers can enjoy.