VoIP: Here, There, Everywhere
<<<... This sort of competition, analysts say, will end up driving costs down, especially in areas where multiple vendors are trying to get a piece of the pie. In the short term, Peterson said, the competitive climate should provide some compelling deals. Currently, local telephone companies charge between $50 and $70 for unlimited local and long-distance calls, using traditional switched analog circuits. In the VoIP arena, AT&T hasn't announced its pricing, but Time Warner has been charging between $40 and $50 for the same package, and the independent VoIP operators charge about $35.
These services build on technology that has been available since the mid-'90s. But previously, VoIP, often offered as a free service, required both callers to be at a computer using a headset and to connect using the same software. Now, VoIP calls can connect to the standard phone network, allowing a VoIP user to call anyone in the world. Ravi Sakaria, CEO of VoicePulse, thinks that for the near term, competition in the VoIP market will be price-driven.
"In the early stage, the focus will be on cost savings," he said. "But in the long run, that won't be the case. Eighteen months from now, we'll start to see the focus shift to the features that different companies offer." Marcelo Rodriguez, editor and publisher of the VoIP information site Voxilla, thinks VoIP is poised to explode, but that some problems still need to be worked out. "Right now, the biggest barrier is that it's a technology that hasn't made itself totally understandable to the consumer," said Rodriguez.
Some of those barriers will likely fall in the coming months, as companies improve and expand their services. But Rodriguez also feels that some of the unique capabilities of VoIP will be a big selling point for consumers. "One of the things that IP telephony can do is eliminate geography in telephony," he said. "I could take my 415 (area code) number and go anywhere in the world, and have the calls routed to follow me. I could be sitting in a house in the south of France, and my friends in San Francisco could reach me with a local call." more>>>