Mobile VoIP provider Zer01 set to make splash in US, possibly coming to Canada

A no strings attached, unlimited mobile voice and data service from Zer01 Communications is set to hit the US airwaves with a commercial launch on July 1, and there could be plans for the company to offer its service north of the 49th parallel. Zer01’s parent company Unified Technologies Group Inc. developed a new technology that brings the power of voice over IP to the mobile world. In a nutshell, its Veritable Mobile Convergence (VMC) technology allows smart phone users to make voice calls or transmit data by bypassing carrier circuit-switched channels by sending voice communications through a VoIP system and onto a virtual private network that accesses the Internet. The company is not a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), but an operator with its own infrastructure. The key differentiator is that Zer01 has negotiated interconnection agreements with a GSM carrier in the US and is “using the GSM infrastructure as the last mile to connect to the consumer,” says Ben Piilani, CEO of Zer01, adding this is what allows a “true unlimited national voice and data mobile service without any contracts or commitments.” While the GSM carrier isn’t earning revenue from the subscriber directly, it gets piece of the monthly revenue that the subscriber pays Zer01. The service is priced at US$69.95 per month. As a revenue sharing agreement, says Piilani, “they have no cost to support the customer, they have no cost of infrastructure behind that customer, yet they are earning revenue.” The service is set to launch on Windows Mobile devices in a couple of months, but Piilani expects to make announcements regarding service available on the BlackBerry, the iPhone, Android-based devices as well as Java phones and Symbian devices within six to 12 months of commercial launch. But Zer01 isn’t the only player in the mobile VoIP space as Skype has announced that it will soon become available on the iPhone. Piilani acknowledges there are potential competitors, but says these standalone types of applications will run into problems. He notes that Skype on the iPhone will only work with Wi-Fi because AT&T won’t allow the application to run on the mobile network. In addition, using Skype on a Windows Mobile device is clunky and requires multiple steps, according to the Zer01 chief executive. Zer01’s VMC technology on the other hand gives users the impression that the mobile VoIP application is native to the device. Piilani says the VMC technology accomplishes this by having a device driver library and operating system library. Both of these elements allow the user to use the device the way it was designed to work. “You don’t have to worry about launching or logging in, you just dial like you would normally do to make a call,” he tells Report on Wireless. “So it literally works with not just the operating system, but with the device itself the way it was intended by the manufacturer, which is something that nobody is doing right now.” Canadian plans? Zer01 has registered in Canada, but Piilani says it’s too early to talk about any plans the company has for the Canadian market. However, Zer01 is actively negotiating with other GSM carriers around the world. “We’re in discussions with GSM carriers all over the world,” he says. “So we’re looking at truly a global communication infrastructure that we’re working on.”

Mobile VoIP provider Zer01 set to make splash in US, possibly coming to Canada

News | 04/23/2009 7:01 pm EDT

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