A recent ITSPA study that has investigated the issue of Voip blocking on mobile networks reveals that consumers are unlikely to be able to use Voip over 3g networks should they try.
Voxhub doesn’t actually recommend using 3g for Voip since it is hard achieve a consistent quality and doesn’t work over nearly all providers!
So why should we be concerned?
It is the future higher speed mobile networks, that are on the way next year, that we are worried about.
It its expected that mobile networks will be able to offer a viable alternative to fixed broadband with the advent of LTE or 4g as it is better known.
When this happens you should expect to be able to use any service not just what the mobile companies want you to use. Not only as a matter of principal but also because legally ISP’s should follow European directives governing Net Neutrality.
You may be thinking that surely the mobile companies will follow the law?
Well, this its not clear at the moment. After all they do block services at the moment and are getting away with it!
So today a bunch of us are meeting Ofcom for an initial discussion. Four Members of the ITSPA council that includes BT, Vonage, Coms and us.
Hopefully, this will all work itself out. After all should Net neutrality not be a condition when the spectrum is auctioned in 2012?
