Truphone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Truphone is a Session Initiation Protocol-based fixed mobile convergence application for mass market smartphones that enable such handsets to make free and very low-cost calls using VoIP over wireless LAN. This means that, when in WiFi range, calls are routed over the internet and are much cheaper than a normal mobile phone call. When not in Wi-Fi range, the converged handsets revert to their standard, GSM mode.

Fixed/Mobile Convergence is widely recognised as a disruptive technology in that it has the potential to change the structure of the existing mobile telecommunications industry^[1]. It is conceivable that ‘traditional’ mobile network operators could even be bypassed by such technology^[2].

Truphone is developed by a British technology company, Software Cellular Network Ltd (SCN). As of September 2006, it has made available a beta version of the software for the Symbian-based Nokia E-series handsets, with a version for Nokia’s N-series coming soon. It is also working on a version for handsets that use the Windows Mobile platform.

Unusually, SCN is a software-only network operator that almost entirely uses freely-available open source technology and internationally-recognised open standards. The major telecoms components it uses are:

- OpenSER: Open source version of the SIP Express Router
- Asterisk: Open source SIP PBX

Other components used are:

- Apache Tomcat Servlet Container
- MySQL Databases
- Debian Linux Build
- Spring, Hibernate, JSF, Struts - Shale - Clay, Acegi for the web site build
- Roller Weblogger
- Nagios and Monit for status monitoring
- OTRS for trouble-ticketing
- JIRA for bug tracking

SCN was founded in 2000, is privately-held, and is funded by a mixture of private investment and venture capital.

References:

1. ^ IT Pro (UK)
2. ^ The Guardian (UK)