Mobile software developer fg microtec today announced that they have developed a software development kit (SDK) that will allow developers to build wireless voice over IP capabilities for the BlackBerry platform. While much of the impact will likely be felt in the consumer space, there is a benefit for enterprise mobile UC as well.Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, is in a peculiar position in the mobile market. While everyone associates Apple's iPhone with the smartphone revolution, according to market researchers comScore, RIM's share of the US smartphone market is 43% versus Apple's 25.1%; that difference is even more pronounced among enterprise users.
However, Apple's relationship with the mobile operators (or more specifically "operator" as AT&T is the only US carrier who can offer the iPhone), is decidedly different from RIM's. RIM's devices are offered by all of the mobile operators, though certain models like the Storm may be offered by a single carrier. What's more, RIM's relationship with the carriers has been mutually beneficial. Every BlackBerry sold comes with a data plan that typically costs $30 to $45 per month, adding to the carrier's average revenue per user--that's the "ARPU" the carriers are so enamored of.
Apple's relationship with AT&T has also been mutually beneficial, though they seem to have run roughshod over the carrier. iPhones consume data service far out of proportion with their numbers, as AT&T's much publicized difficulties in their data network will certainly attest; according to Morgan Stanley, in 2009 iPhones represent 16% of unit shipments but accounted for 51% of mobile Internet usage. Certainly the app store has had a lot to do with that, but Apple has fundamentally changed consumers' expectations of what a mobile device could and should do. AT&T did put some constraints on the applications catalog, initially allowing VoIP applications to work only over Wi-Fi, but they have since opened up to VoIP over 3G.
RIM has clearly been more beholden to the mobile operators. In the first edition of the Storm touch screen device, they famously eliminated Wi-Fi capability, apparently at the behest of Verizon. In fact, the only VoIP capability RIM provides is for carrier-provided Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), which is the basis for the Unlimited Hotspot Calling service from T-Mobile and the similar TalkSpot service from Rogers in Canada. Clearly RIM knows how to build a VoIP capability, but will do so only if it is sanctioned by the mobile operator.
What fg microtec has produced is a VoIP toolkit that application developers can incorporate in their products. On the consumer side, that could be things like iCall or Truephone, while on the enterprise side it could allow for dual mode FMC/mobile UC solutions like those from DiVitas to support BlackBerry devices. Agito and Varaha have already delivered dual mode BlackBerry support, but DiVitas and Siemens have not. As fg microtec provides the handset clients for Siemens' dual mode Mobile Connect product, it is probably a pretty safe bet that we will see BlackBerry support there before too long.
Robert Mirbaha, President of fg microtec, is bullish on the prospects for their new product. While RIM's relationship with the carriers may make them reluctant to get behind VoIP, fg microtec's SDK might be a blessing in disguise. Lord knows, the offerings in BlackBerry's App World are pretty thin when compared to Apple's app store. RIM could benefit from a richer set of offerings while arguing to the carriers that it's beyond their control. Mr. Mirbaha acknowledges the threat to all of these VoIP on BlackBerry initiatives, in that RIM does not support any of them and could take steps to render them inoperable in subsequent versions of the operating system. The current SDK works with the BlackBerry operating system Rev 4.3 to 4.6, and they are working on a version for Rev 5.0.
The initial version of the product uses G.711 (64 Kbps) voice encoding so it most likely will be used over Wi-Fi networks; when you add in the IP/UDP/RTP overhead, packetized G.711 adds up to about 80 Kbps, which would be a stretch on current 3G networks. The company is planning versions that use G.729 (8 Kbps) and adaptive multi-rate (AMR) voice coding in the future, which could be more practical in a 3G environment.
The mobile world runs by a different set of rules than the rest of the IT industry, and those rules are defined by the carriers. This VoIP on BlackBerry option is just the most recent in an ongoing series of initiatives that test the limits of what the mobile operators will allow. Hopefully, fg microtec's tool will be accepted (or at least "ignored") by the operators, and it will be one more step in the long process of bringing the mobility marketplace into the 21st century along with everyone else.
