Is consumer VoIP under threat from telcos and regulators? [Interview]
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In the last part of our discussion with Ruslan Zalata, co-founder of GTalk2VoIP, we talk about the SIP protocol and its possible integration with the operating system and the future of VoIP. So, without further ado, let us get started. The interview extract follows (AS – Alok Saboo; RZ – Ruslan Zalata):
AS: In some sense, Gtalk2VoIP is a SIP client that does not have to be installed on a user’s machine (cloud?). Given that, how do you foresee the impact of ChromeOS? Can/Will ChromeOS integrate VoIP functionality?
RZ: To be able to use GTalk2VoIP service one has to have a supported IM messengers installed, be it Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo or AIM. As everyone could recently see, ChromeOS is not an operating system in common sense – it does not allow user to host any software, so there will be no any IM messengers in ChromeOS as it’s against its whole philosophy. The Web (cloud in your words) is proposed substitution for all possible software that user might need. It’s clear that there will be no regular SIP/VoIP client in ChromeOS, but. ChromeOS supports Adobe Flash Player which since version 9 makes it possible to implement VoIP as a hosted service over RTMP protocol and this is how VoIP can be brought to ChromeOS (there is already a number of public Flash-based VoIP services available). A year ago we reverse-engineered RTMP protocol and added its support to our soft-switch, our Flash2VoIP service is an example how one can easily use SIP on ChromeOS including all the rest features of GTalk2VoIP. In this regard we are ready for the Cloud to come deep into peoples’ minds.
My personal attitude towards ChromeOS and “everything cloud” is very negative, but I would better not express it here.
AS: What is your view of integration of SIP into the OS, i.e., not having to use a client to access VoIP and all services/programs having access to VoIP?
RZ: Do you mean ChromeOS or a conventional OS ? I cannot see how SIP can be easily integrated into such a web-only OS. Should there be a new API standard developed? How web developers will be able to access VoIP features of the OS? There’s another problem: how widely used proprietary codecs could be incorporated in totally open sourced OS which is offered to hardware vendors at no cost? I hardly believe that Google will bother to solve all these problems just to break the entire design of the OS. Of course, from consumer point it would be cool to have SIP/VoIP out of the box, but from engineering and business point it’s not.For a conventional OS, having SIP stack with all the codecs and documented API is definitely good.
AS: Shouldn’t it be lot easier for Google to integrate SIP as it has complete control over the OS? I am no technical person, so please elaborate…
RZ: There is not problem adding SIP libraries into the OS. The problem is that there is no any standard API for accessing local SIP stack from the Web, so this would sit there totally useless. I don’t think Google would love to invent new “niche” API standard and invest in it’s promotion just because it’s a “would be cool” feature of the OS and a feature will be used by a few. The main idea of the ChromeOS is a light-weight OS which has nothing but a web browser. Adding such features just breaks this straightforward concept. Note, I don’t say Google will never add SIP into ChromeOS, they may choose to add it next releaseAS: What is your vision of VoIP or how do you see VoIP in 5/10 years from now?
RZ: Good question, I don’t know how to answer it because it’s very hard to foresee how technology will developThe technology itself is very mature, I would say it’s more mature than regular PSTN with all the complexity of SS7 and “circuitswitchery”, it’s more advanced and simpler. More and more telephone companies use it as a transport for their infrastructure, preferring cheap robust and feature rich soft-switches based on SIP/H.323/IAX to monstrous phone switches of 90th. So here I foresee that SIP (or perhaps some other VoIP protocol will emerge) will completely push away circuit-switched telephony. Mobile standards of new generation are nearly begging for it, so mobile carriers will be the first who completely move to VoIP.
As for consumer VoIP, the future is not as bright. It is very disruptive technology. Lest old telecom lobby be not so strong as it is, we could already live in a world without AT&T and Verizon, with free international phone and video calling and GSM would be long time forgotten mobile standard. Unfortunately the world is not perfect. Greedy people at power are not eager to loose their pockets, others with money don’t want to sit still watching how their telecom empires crashing, and they will make everything possible and impossible to kill their main thread – consumer VoIP. I foresee consumer VoIP will get more and more regulated (over-regulated I would say) both in North America and Europe. It will become very hard for a small VoIP company to run cheap VoIP service, some will die, others will be swallowed by telecom giants. The other day, after reading another blog post on how VoIP is getting blocked on more mobile networks, I had a feeling that mobile VoIP has no future at all. But then I remembered that this same happened to almost any disruptive technology in the past. Just read some history on how invention of automobile was treated in 18th century and how many well established businesses it ruined. I really hope it’s just another cycle in the progress of the Universe on its way to better future
AS: Finally, do you think SIP protocol will take over the VoIP space and why or why not?
RZ: I think as VoIP will continue to develop, many more new protocols will appear, more niche specific protocols and this is natural. It’s a real guess will they become open standards or will they remain proprietary stuff like Skype. Unless Skype switches to SIP (there’s some rumor they are going to) it is very unlikely that SIP will become a “de facto” standard for consumer VoIP in near future. But I’m sure SIP will remain at least “choice number two” for consumers. There is a need in a serious and powerful competitor to Skype, I don’t mind if Google becomes oneOne more thing. From my point, SIP is already very much over-complicated and over-bloated protocol. I think we need a more lighter version of SIP. I love XMPP/Jingle for it’s simplicity and unlimited possibilities for extension while keeping compatibility. For comparison, my implementation of Jingle is less than 2,000 lines of C++ code, whereas basic SIP implementations takes more than 10,000 lines in C++. In SIP if you add your own feature it will most likely break compatibility, in Jingle it will not. Yet SIP has a much more brighter future
Once again, sincere thanks to Ruslan for all these responses. I am sure this was a great experience for all of us. We will have more from Ruslan on more interesting things some time later. Till then….enjoy!!!
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