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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (44472)	3/24/2001 10:51:59 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Internet-Telephone Equipment Market Set to Grow Tenfold in 2001 March 23, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- U.S.-based Clarent Corp., one of the world's leading suppliers of Internet-Protocol telephony equipment, forecast that the market for this equipment in Taiwan will grow tenfold in 2001. The company based its optimistic forecast on the rapid pace of liberalization of Taiwan's telecom market. Taiwan Fixed Network Co., Ltd., New Century InfoComm Co., and Eastern Broadband Telecommunications Co., Ltd. will begin to offer international voice services this year, breaking the long monopolization of the market by the state-run Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. Furthermore, the island will open up its international simple reselling market to the private sector in July this year, giving the island's Internet service providers the right to offer international voice services. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) will issue an unlimited number of licenses for providers of ISR, international whole reselling, and international bandwidth reselling services. Taiwan's major Internet-phone service providers, including @Network Inc., Mackay Telecom Inc., Taiwan Telecommunication Networks Service Co., Ltd., and WHEREVER.net are fast preparing for the deregulated market. Clarent said that the size of the equipment-procurement boom would become clear in mid-year. The company's Taiwan branch forecast that domestic procurement of Internet-Protocol telephony equipment will rise tenfold this year. It also predicted that a service price war would break out in the second half of this year, with Chunghwa set to make a cut of 40 percent on its international-voice service charge in April, and 50 percent by the end of the year. International Data Corp., a U.S.-based market research organization, estimates that voice traffic over the Internet will take up 43 percent of the world's total telecommunications volume in 2003. Statistics show that voice traffic over the Internet amounted to four billion minutes worldwide last year, and is estimated to top 634.5 billion minutes in 2006. Taiwan's telecom providers estimate that the Asian market for Internet-telephone services will be more than 150 times as large as its present size within the next five years. Clarent reported global revenue of US$160 million last year. The company's Taiwan agent, Triumph Technology Inc., noted that it will target the island's top 10 business conglomerates for sales of its Internet-Protocol telephony equipment this year. The agent plans to turn out revenue of NT$2 billion (US$62.5 million) this year, a jump from last year's NT$1.4 billion (US$43.75 million), and NT$500 million (US$15.62 million) in 1999. (Commercial Times, Taiwan)