Large organizations are also favored by the high initial costs of Wi-Fi telephony. The cell phone industry is structured around a "buy now, pay later" model: Carriers subsidize the cost of handsets, often promoting them as "free." In exchange, customers are locked into long-term service contracts with heavy cancellation penalties. Though targeted mainly at cash-strapped consumers, this also appeals to businesses that need to minimize their capital expenditure. Nextel advertises PTT phones for as little as $25 each, with its monthly service plans ranging from two to 10 times the phone's initial cost.
In contrast, building a Wi-Fi telephony network is extremely capital-intensive, requiring investment in hardware, software, and manpower. This makes the cost of capital and the expected payback period an important consideration when choosing between cellular and VoIP over Wi-Fi. All other things being equal, Wi-Fi telephony will cost a lot less to an organization with a triple-A credit rating than to a young and desperate start-up.
Surprisingly, users who make a large number of long distance calls won't see a significant savings from wireless VoIP. This is because cell phones become cost-competitive with landline telephony when used with plans that offer several thousand inclusive long distance minutes. The long distance portion of a call costs the same for both and is often carried over IP, but it's easier to increase access network capacity by sticking up a new radio tower than by laying more cables to every subscriber.
PRESENCE IN FUTURE
The best candidates for Wi-Fi telephony are enterprises that already have an IP PBX. That's because IP PBXs don't care whether arriving packets come from a Wi-Fi or an Ethernet phone, so they can be used without modification. It's also possible to use Wi-Fi telephony without wired VoIP. SpectraLink has been selling cordless phones since before most enterprises even heard of VoIP, using gateways to route calls to a traditional PBX. It offers similar gateways for use with its Wi-Fi VoIP solutions.
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