Mobile VoIP has made undeniable progress toward becoming a mainstream technology, and its adoption by cellular network operators will be an important step in the mobile industry's evolution to all-IP technologies and services, according to the latest report from Unstrung Insider, a paid research service from TechWeb's Unstrung.

Mobile VoIP: A Disruptive Service Goes Mainstream analyzes the latest developments and trends driving mobile VoIP applications and services. It examines the technology issues that have confronted mobile VoIP upstarts and the solutions that they have developed to overcome them. It also explores the commercial and technical challenges and opportunities facing startups and incumbent mobile phone operators and handset makers. Finally, this report profiles 12 mobile VoIP providers, exploring their strategies for tapping into the young and promising market for IP-enabled voice offerings.

For a list of companies analyzed in this report, please see: http://img.lightreading.com/uni/pdf/uni0809_companies.pdf

"Mobile VoIP is no longer just a cheap telephone call," notes John Blau, research analyst with Unstrung Insider and author of the report. "The big advantage of VoIP is its ability to integrate with other systems and stimulate further adoption."

Mobile VoIP represents a promising and natural step forward in the continued evolution of mobile networks, and operators will need to come to grips with these changes, according to Blau. "Although many mobile operators continue to block VoIP calls to protect their voice revenues, that strategy will not be sustainable," he says. "Sooner or later, mobile operators will be forced to deploy their own VoIP services, since next-generation networks such as Long Term Evolution and WiMax are all-IP and do not support circuit voice."

Key findings of Mobile VoIP: A Disruptive Service Goes Mainstream include:

• Many mobile VoIP players are broadening into other applications, integrating with other systems, and stimulating further adoption.
• New services such as voice-enhanced IM, voice mashups, and voice plugins are being used to build communities.
• Operator resistance to mobile VoIP is gradually softening worldwide, as major incumbents such as T-Mobile drop their bans.
• New Flash technology enabling peer-to-peer voice capability without requiring plugins or soft clients could be a game-changer.
• Venture capitalists remain interested in disruptive mobile VoIP technology, which they view as still in its early days of development.
• Security is an ever-present issue in wireless markets, but the WPA2 standard provides robust security.