Mobile VoIP waiting for 4G services
Full mobile telephony solutions will only come with the widespread introduction of 4G networks, industry observers have predicted.
According to a group of panelists at the recent NetEvents summit in Malta, at present VoIP is mainly a fixed-line service, with several obstacles remaining in place which prevent the full-scale adoption of mobile VoIP technologies.
Writing on the technology website The Register, Emir Halilovic, the programme manager of networking and infrastructure at analysts IDC, stated: "Mobile applications are a very, very small slice of that whole market.
"Still, there is a great promise in both [mobile VoIP and multi-media] because the ecosystem elements are all there, although it's still not fully functional," he added.
While 3G networks could theoretically provide VoIP services with the range of a mobile phone, at present such technology faces too much competition from Wi-Fi broadband connections, which offer faster speeds, for them to be viable.
Only the next generation of mobile networks will be able to offer an ideal base for VoIP services, the Malta summit concluded. 
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