News
Issue #2003 - 10 (March 2003)
(Updated Mar. 26, 2003)

TECHNOLOGY

Voice Over WLAN

Not surprisingly, the Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN) market is very small presently. According to In-Stat/MDR, less than 30,000 Voice over 802.11b handsets were shipped in 2002. Still, In-Stat thinks there's growth potential, with end-user revenue rising from approximately 16.5 million in 2002 to 507 million in 2007. 

"This market will thrive for two reasons," says Gemma Paulo, a Senior Analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "Wi-Fi Wireless LANs have a growing installed base, so these customers are looking to add voice to their existing wireless networks. In addition, the LAN telephony market is growing, and In-Stat/MDR expects a percentage of this business to be wireless IP handsets. As demand from verticals such as education, healthcare, retail and logistics increases, then VoWLAN installations will enjoy healthy growth." 
In-Stat/MDR also found that:

• Perhaps the most exciting part of the VoWLAN market is the "new" market that is forming, apart from traditional Wi- Fi handsets, specifically for onsite use by an employee. Softphones from TeleSym and Vedic enable pocket PCs on a Wi-Fi network to function as phones. Vocera, with its badge device, has created a relatively inexpensive way of allowing for handsfree and quick communication between mobile workers, such as nurses.
• In the handset VoWLAN market, top verticals remain healthcare, education and retail, namely those same verticals that have been driving large-scale enterprise WLAN roll-outs over the last few years. SpectraLink and Symbol dominate this VoWLAN handset market, and it is widely anticipated that Cisco is developing its own handset. 
• A combination Wi-Fi, and 2.5 or 3G, mobile phone is the ultimate vision for the business environment, where this mobile phone seamlessly switches between cellular and 802.11, even in the middle of a call. Motorola, Proxim and Avaya announced a partnership, in January 2003, to develop the handsets and necessary infrastructure required to it happen.

For more information: http://www.instat.com

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: Voice over WLAN market will remain a niche vertical-industry based market for some time. Mass market will come into its own only when carriers accept Wi-Fi as an integral part of their networks. The carriers will continue to scream before they accept Wi-Fi as core components of their networks.

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