Partnerships Will Be Key in VoWi-Fi Growth

A new report from ABI Research suggests that for Voice over Wi-Fi to reach its stride, vendors of the technology will have to forge lasting partnerships—and not just joint marketing initiatives—that bring together many different technologies. Among the technologies involved will be those that govern call management, endpoint security, and intrusion detection and protection.

Because no one vendor owns all the intellectual property required for a complete solution, vendors that are able to forge effective partnerships will be the ones that come out ahead. Partnerships will need to incorporate handset manufacturers like Motorola and Nokia, chip manufacturers, PBX manufacturers, fixed mobile convergence software companies like DiVitas Networks and Agito Networks, and mobile operators. Partnering with key vertical market value-added resellers and systems integrators will also be necessary to reach early adopters.

"In some cases, vendors who sell their own IP PBXs and VoWi-Fi equipment are going to be limited to their own installed bases," Stan Schatt, ABI Research vice president and research director, said in a statement.

The same report also suggests that vendors will have to fill in huge gaps in standards with their own proprietary solutions and equipment.

ABI Research forecasts that the number of access points used to handle voice traffic will experience a compound annual growth rate of 93 percent through 2012, reaching nearly 56,000 access points. Revenue associated with that level of traffic is expected to exceed $12 million in that time.
Though North America is the market leader right now, Europe is quickly catching up, ABI also found.