Leaders see Internet altering communications world
TORONTO, May 31 (Reuters) - Executives at phone and Internet firms around the world anticipate heightened rivalry and more changes as consumers increasingly hook up to the World Wide Web, said a study by Ernst & Young released on Monday.
The business consulting group surveyed 95 executives at cable, wireless, telecommunications, communications equipment, Internet and other companies to see how they think the future would develop.
The executives, from companies as varied as computer maker International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) to data and telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news) to Internet portal Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), think their companies will have to battle even harder for customers while the Internet transforms the communications industry.
Rising demand for the swift movement of video, voice and text over the Internet will spur development of new companies to fill any gaps while establised companies will merge to create full-content providers.
Long distance companies will expand into local service and cable companies will provide Internet and phone services, while wireless communications, such as cell phones, will supersede plain old phone lines, they concluded.
In three to five years, customers will have only one phone number and mobile phones will replace local service, some think.
QCOM anyone....
Ernst & Young is made the study available to the International Telecommunications Union, which is preparing for the TELECOM 99 + Interactive 99 Forum set for October in Geneva, Switzerland.
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