Anssi Vanjoki told delegates that Nokia has 'missed the point' of IP networks

Nokia 'got it wrong' with VoIP

Multimedia boss advocates new vision of 'IP for everything' over a single unified network

Written by Iain Thomson in Barcelona

vnunet.com, 02 Nov 2005

Nokia's general manager for multimedia has caused a stir by admitting that the mobile giant got it wrong with voice over IP.

Anssi Vanjoki told delegates at the firm's Mobility Conference 2005 in Barcelona that Nokia has missed the point of IP networks but is now working towards a new vision of "IP for everything".

"We need to rethink our view of the network," he said. "We did not understand that voice is at the centre of everything. And not just any voice: it's produced over IP."

Vanjoki explained that telephony, internet and television will all be enabled over a single unified IP network, including wired and wireless connections.

In the past Nokia believed that new applications would coexist with voice traffic, but the two are becoming increasingly entwined and IP is the basis for a new network that would carry everything.

"VoIP will mean disruption, a change in the way applications come to us and a simplified network structure," said Vanjoki.

Such a network would have considerable advantages, not least in economies of scale. It would herald the end of some broadcast and wired technologies, but the change would be worth it in the long run, according to Nokia.