AT&T's announcement late last year that they would now allow VoIP calls over their 3G network is BIG news for the VoIP industry. Better late than never, Apple, has finally started approving VoIP apps for the iPhone. The VoIP industry has generally seen strong growth in past years, but that growth has typically been from consumers making the switch from analog PSTN lines to VoIP for their home or business. This growth has expanded as broadband internet service (a requirement for VoIP) has become more widespread.

Let's face it...we all make calls one of two ways for the most part. We use our landline service, or we use our cell phone. Since most wireless cellular carriers have been reluctant to allow (as in block) VoIP traffic over their data networks, the usefulness of VoIP on a cell phone has been limited to those times when you have access to a Wi-Fi connection. This is fine if you're at home or in the office, but doesn't work when you're out and about, unless you stop by Starbucks or McDonalds. Because of this, VoIP on a cell phone has been a hard sell, reserved more for techies than mainstream.

Now, with the allowance of VoIP over 3G, VoIP for cell phones becomes much more attractive, as you can make VoIP calls anywhere AT&T has 3G coverage, while still utilizing VoIP over Wi-Fi in areas with no 3G. While VoIP is not likely to work over AT&Ts 2G Edge networks due to speed and latency, 3G coverage areas still encompass a vast amount of potential VoIP customers. One thing to keep in mind is that AT&T will someday upgrade their wireless networks to include the 4G LTE  technology, which essentially gives you a Wi-Fi like connection covering entire cities. Once handsets incorporating 4G become available, the ability to use VoIP reliably in more places makes it just that much more attractive.

Consider a single, heavy user with an iPhone. Let's say they have the Nationwide Unlimited Plan for calling minutes at $69.99/mth. If they had a low cost VoIP plan with unlimited minutes, they could reduce that to the Nationwide 450 plan at $39.99/mth. While that's a savings of $30 per month, they would need to sign up for a VoIP provider that would allow use of VoIP on their phone. Unlimited VoIP plans with calling anywhere in the US and Canada can be found for less than $19.95 per month. Of course, if a user has to get a VoIP plan at $19.95, they are only saving around 10 bucks a month, but this scenario is a bare bones base model and it only gets better from here.

If you're a road warrior, and/or make calls to Canada or other international destinations, the cost savings and usefulness of your cell phone only gets better. In addition, if you travel to international destinations, you no longer have to worry about how you're going to make your cell phone work in other countries. In the past, you would have to have an unlocked phone with GSM capability, along with purchasing a SIM card from another country's cellular provider. With VoIP, all you need is a Wi-Fi connection, and you'll be making calls back home with no additional expense.

Going back to our heavy user example with an unlimited plan, additional cost savings can be realized in other areas. First, most VoIP plans allow for unlimited calls to Canada. Adding Canada to an AT&T cellular plan is very expensive, depending on the number of minutes you'd like to have. Just adding the ability to call Canada with AT&Ts service will add $20 to $60/mth to your bill. Having a VoIP plan also gives you the ability to use your cell phone for low rate international VoIP calls. If you're already using VoIP with a landline to make international calls, chances are, you're ready to transfer that technology over to your iPhone.

Many cell phone users have never considered using VoIP instead of wireless minutes. Others have considered it, but have discarded it as having limited usefulness due to the constraint of needing Wi-Fi for it to work. With AT&T opening up the 3G network for VoIP traffic, now is a great time to think about using VoIP whenever possible. With a good VoIP application on your iPhone along with a good VoIP service provider, you may be pleasantly suprised at the voice quality, while saving money, and adding more functionality to your smartphone.

Our next article will be dealing with converging your landline service with your cellular service. The best way to do this is by using an IP PBX style of server in your home or office. With the availability of low cost installations of this technology, it is possible to save a great deal of money when dealing with family plans, and business situations where the company pays for all or part of an employee's wireless bill. Although, the popularity of "ditching the landline" for wireless service has increased as more unlimited plans have come online, converging landline and cellular may be about to change that. Stay tuned...