Andrew, Good comprehensive article in this weeks "Barron's" by Eric J. Savitz essentially saying what you have been espousing all along.
"Slowly but surely, the 'Net will snatch away fat slices of the voice and fax traffic now carried by the public switched telephone network -- the traditional phone system. In fact, Internet telephony -- a/k/a IP telephony, for Internet protocol -- already has begun to nibble tiny bites from the most profitable parts of the phone system. So far, just a microscopic fraction of the world's voice traffic is carried via IP, or "packet-based" networks. That, however, surely will change...
Over the next decade, telephone and fax traffic carried by IP networks will slice away billions in revenues from the regular phone system...
IP telephony's arrival will hurl shock waves across the telecommunications landscape. The technology will provide a bonanza for equipment makers, save billions of dollars for consumers and corporations and spur development of new services and upstart carriers...
The promise of integrating voice and data has leading players in both industries scurrying to form joint ventures. Cisco has teamed up with Alcatel, for instance, while 3Com has joined forces with both Siemens and Newbridge...
Another new entrant is Global Exchange Carrier, of Manassas, Va. Global Exchange has formed a consortium of small Internet service providers, the Global Gateway Group. Using Internet gateways built by Vienna Systems, an affiliate of the Canadian telecommunications equipment maker Newbridge Networks, the consortium has links to the phone network in a dozen places, including Tokyo, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Seoul..."
A lengthy review but well worth the read.
Regards, Roger |
