TELEPHONE OPERATORS UNDER THREAT

Conventional mobile and fixed line telephone companies face an immediate and growing threat from computer-based voice communications, a leading online solutions provider said this week.

Terry Pentland of the Internet Centre was speaking after launching the first of a series of workshops in Birmingham to introduce organisations to the benefits of VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol.

He compared the launch of VoIP to the revolution that heralded the growth of email communications and web sites over the last decade or so.

He continued,
"The biggest single factor in launching this second major revolution in communications is the rapid growth of broadband – particularly in the business sector. This provides the infrastructure that VoIP needs to really take off.

Secondly, VoIP services have now dramatically improved their offering and include the back up security that businesses and other organisations require.

To-date, VoIP has been characterized by cheap, relatively low quality services that have appealed to small groups of individuals. Now with new higher quality and reliable services coming into the market, the stage is set for smaller organizations to lead the way in reducing their costs and benefiting from telephony services only previously available at much greater cost.

Over the next few years, telephony and computing services will merge into one and the number of fixed telephone lines required will decline significantly. Similarly, the so-called 3G services provided by mobile operators will look increasingly expensive and dated.

This poses a real threat to the profitability to the large companies that provide these services such as BT."

The Internet Centre launches its new VoIP service this month and already has a waiting list of customers.
ENDS