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April 04, 2006
Wifi Voice Startup Barablu Joins The Fray
We posted a list of startups (see link below) with plans to disrupt mobile network operators voice and data businesses. Today there is another one to add to the list, Barablu, which is based in London.
The offer is for free voice calls on mobile networks. But there's a catch.
The catch is that Barablu only works with Wifi enabled cellphones and the calls are free only on IP-networked devices, such as PC users or other Barablu users. In that sense it is a direct competitor to the soon to be launched Truphone. (See a:c euor post below).
The Barablu also has options to purchase location independent numbers and calling plans for non-IP connected users.
We are with the startups that aim to make mobile communications and believe that the market expects that mobile calls and messaging will undergo a Skype-like pricing disruption, so the market is with them too.
But if they are looking to grow with the alacrity that Skype did, the founders have to be aware that they are in a tougher market. When Skype launched there had literally not been a decent new web-based communication service in two or even three years prior. It is a lot more competitive now.
The majority of calls made on Skype can be made for free, it worked in dozens of countries immediately, and it had a familiar user interface, that is, if you used instant messaging, using Skype was easy. Will that be the case with these wireless-targeted services?
What is more, Skype was a second if not a third generation IP Telephony application. But the disruptive entrants in the mobile market are the pioneers for providing IP communications services over mobile networks. And cellphone networks are not exactly as stable, open, and established IP platform that the fixed network is.
For example, flat rates for mobile Internet access are not yet ubiquitous, and the handsets are not easy to configure for Internet use.
Some of the new players work only on WiFi-enabled phones or expensive smartphones, which will also limit the takeoff.
We're not saying that the mobile market opportunity does not exist, it does. But we do believe that it will not open up as dramatically and quickly as it did for Skype and its rivals.
One thing we note is that the burgeoning of new products and services will probably drive demand for publishers that provide consumers with info, such as comparisons of rates and service information, with a focus on mobile telephony, such as MeilleurMobile, TelTarif.de, Comparis.ch, uSwitch.co.uk, and the like.
Read - Startups sink fangs
Read - Truephone backer touts free
Posted on April 4, 2006 05:43 AM | Posted to Wireless | Permalink
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