NetEvents: 4G will kill off per-second mobile billing

Fixed price mobile phone bills will be the norm for customers in the future, an analyst forecasted as mobile operators will be forced by technology to offer unlimited voice and data packages.

Joel Stradling, a senior analyst at Current Analysis, said the push would cut operators' profits as the industry headed towards 4G networks.

"Mobile operators aren't really keen on offering single-priced, always-on flat rate services but I think it's inevitable in the future," he told delegates at the NetEvents conference in Evian, France.

Stradling said mobile usage would change dramatically with the introduction of 4G networks and this would present challenges for mobile networks.

"Bandwidth volumes required for mobile service delivery will ramp up exponentially as the industry moves to always-on pricing, users will leave VoIP connections on indefinitely," he said.

But Stradling said that voice would continue to be the "killer app" for mobile networks but most voice traffic would be on VoIP networks in the future. "Voice will continue to be the killer app for IP telephony," he said.

Speaking at a round table discussion, Vivek Khuller, chief executive of Divitas Networks agreed with Stradling that voice would continue to be the killer application for mobile devices. "Laptops and cell phones will come equipped with Wi-Fi or WiMax so that parts of the device can remain under the control of enterprises and the users can use cellular services if they desire to do so," he said.

Craig Gosselin, chief marketing officer of NewStep Networks said that operators needed to look at offering more services and features to customers to protect profits.

"The ability to offer a broad range of services to customers will help the operators maintain profits," said Gosselin.

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