Over at GigaOm, they’re saying EarthLink will sell Wi-Fi-only VoIP phones in fourth quarter: For $10 to $25 per month, the voice plan will include calling and exclude data.



They’re testing phones right now for deployment, Katie Fehrenbacher writes, and expect the phones to work in transit—she reports their VP of VoIP says the testing shows current models work at up to 40 mph. Wi-Fi operators and aggregators have been settling on a much lower rate, such as the Boingo/Skype mash-up (still in beta after many moons and with hard-to-find, out-of-date copy) that offers unlimited service for $7.95 per month.



The biggest problem appears to be the cost of these phones—EarthLink will have to subsidize the phones for a while, and Fehrenbacher quotes VP Steve Howe saying,

“this business will get really interesting when the phones get down to the $40 range.”

It’s true. A new Linksys phone has all the right bells and whistles for using Wi-Fi on arbitrary networks, including a micro-browser for authentication and gateway page clicking, but it’s nearly $400.


Source: WiFi Networking News


Related Articles: Cell Phone & VoIP Marriage Looks Imminent | VoIP Phones for EarthLink Wi-Fi Networks?

Earthlink’s first muni WiFi network made news when it was launched in Anaheim, California, last week, but Earthlink’s VoIP VP Steve Howe, revealed some interesting news to me in a conversation this week.


He says Earthlink plans to start selling WiFi-only phones starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The phones will work over Earthlink’s WiFi networks, and will have a voice plan somewhere between $10 to $25. Users have to pay extra for a data plan. That’s in contrast to the dual cellular-WiFi phones that the company plans to sell with its MVNO Helio, estimated to launch in the beginning of 2007.


Steve says Earthlink has narrowed down the WiFi phone search to two manufacturers, though declined to name which ones. He says over the past few days the company has been testing Earthlink’s WiFi phones over the company’s Anaheim network and that they’re working well up to 40 miles per hour.


Other companies have been offering WiFi-only phones for some time. Skype and Netgear have a WiFi phone, as does Vonage with UTStarcom. But Earthlink’s voice over WiFi could give a significant boost to these services going mainstream. The service could also boost the demand for Earthlink’s WiFi services, primarily because of the voice-data bundle. Earthlink will have to keep the prices low enough to attract mainstream users. High prices of cellular data services have been the main hindrance to mainstream adoption of such services thus far.

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