Press Release Source: Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
Governments Could Save $3-10 Billion With VoIP, Study Says
Wednesday February 11, 6:38 pm ET
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Government at all levels could save $3-10 billion by making telephone calls over the Internet (VoIP), according to a forthcoming study by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, or AdTI. The study, by AdTI President Kenneth Brown, Jr. is estimating the long-distance and local telephone bills paid by federal, state, and local governments to predict how much money they would save by switching to VoIP.
"The government is under tremendous pressure to provide equal or higher levels of service at reduced costs," says Brown. "Our review of federal, state, and local long distance and local telephone bills suggests that there would be substantial savings from a shift to 'voice-over internet protocol' -- also known as VOIP -- on an annual basis."
"Based on reports from the U.S. and selected state and local governments, America's telephone bill might be as high as $40 billion, and as low as $8 billion. VOIP would save at least 20 percent, and perhaps as much as 60 percent on those costs," Brown said.
"It's especially ironic that states such as California, Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Utah -- all leaders in technology -- appear to be spending more than they have to making telephone calls," Brown noted.
"Leading telecommunications experts agree the savings for the U.S., not to mention large states such as California, could be substantial. A switch from traditional phone service to VoIP is not only in the best interest of the federal government, but in the best interest of taxpayers as well," says Daniel Berninger, a telecommunications expert contributing to the findings of the study.
"The purpose of the report is two-fold," Brown said. "First, we need to broaden the discussion about the impact of VoIP. It is important that all leadership in the federal government (and hopefully local governments as well) begin discussing the fiscal benefits of the imminent switch to this fantastic technology. Second, federal spending precipitated the initial development of the Internet. It is essential that we continually report to the public how government funding for hi-tech research and development benefits the taxpayer." |
