4G wireless is VOIP's key to success.

There are 3.3 Billion cell phones in the world today, so for many of us, wireless telephony has already replaced the wired "telephone" in the "last mile". That technology has been 1G and 2G cellular, but that won't last much longer. Because of the need for the "last mile" to have data as well as voice service, even 3G cellular will never be adequate.

Notwithstanding the semi-satisfactory improvised solutions (eg. Skype 3) to interconnect cellular networks with VOIP networks (PSTN bridges and hubs), the real promise of VOIP lies somewhere in the future when the Internet's last mile is truly wireless... when voice is handled as data packets that are exchanged point-to-point with low latency and high capacity. Today's 2G and 3G cellular networks are simply not capable of it, but 4G is.

4G (wireless broadband) is dominated by two standards, WIMAX and LTE (although there are others such as the unproven and obscure "XG". Both WIMAX and LTE are capable of broadband speeds with high capacity, low latency, and both will extend the reach of the wireless "last mile" beyond the capability of WIFI. WIMAX is being deployed all around the world this year and next. LTE probably won't hit "the streets" until 2010.

Ultimately, wireless broadband will change forever the "last mile" of both data and telecommunications. If it were available today, Skype (and other VOIP carriers) would be growing far faster than presently, because high-fidelity voice, video, chat, file sharing and end-to-end privacy would be able to compete against the more primitive feature set of cellular networks. Furthermore, the monopolies supported by status-quo telecommunication (telecoms, cellular companies and cable cos) would face competition that brings lower prices and more innovative products to the consumer.