An IP network is what you need for your video calls

Video communications is (still) in the early adopter stage of the product lifecycle curve (PLC). As I hinted previously in my blog, it was given a big push up the ramp last week with the launch of the iPhone 4, but what it needs for mass success is ubiquity in the core network.



I believe that there are two good reasons why Apple might have chosen to provide the FaceTime video chat application over Wi-Fi only:

1.Video chat is possible over a 3G connection, but is inherently limited to a low bitrate by the nature of the 3G network

2.In contrast to 3G networks, IP networks are ubiquitous