ICG Netcom Plans To be Largest IP Telephony Carrier
August 31, 1998
ENGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., Newsbytes
via NewsEdge Corporation :
ICG Netcom [ICGX] has joined the growing list
of companies offering IP (Internet protocol)
telephony to subscribers in the US. Unlike most of
the competition, however, ICG is pitching for
domestic long distance within the US, rather than
the obvious international phone market.
The company, which describes itself as an
integrated communications carrier (ICC), says it
plans to offer services in 31 cities across the US
starting today, ramping up to an impressive 166
cities, spanning 90 percent of phone users across
the US, by the end of the year. This will mean,
officials say, that ICG Netcom will be the biggest IP
telephony operator in the US by December.
The rate for the telephone service is a flat rate of 5.9
cents per minute -- around half of the cheapest
domestic long distance rates available from a
conventional carrier, Newsbytes notes -- for calls
routing on Netcom's network, and 8.9 cents per
minute for calls ending up in areas outside of
Netcom's outdial local calling areas.
Plans call for an international calling service to be
implemented by the end of the year.
"With IP Telephony, we hold the future of long
distance in our hands, " said J. Shelby Bryan, ICG's
president, announcing the company's services and
plans.
According to Bryan, the convergence of voice and
data has permanently changed the landscape of
telecommunications, both from a cost and voice
quality perspective. "For our customers, IP
Telephony is a reality. The future is now," he
enthused.
The launch of the new service, Newsbytes notes, is
the direct result of ICG's recent acquisition of
Netcom, the major Internet service provider (ISP).
The voice over IP (VoIP) service has already been
tested in San Jose, Denver and Irvine, and uses
Cisco kit to covert and route the voice calls across
the Internet.
Like RSL Com's Delta Three international IP
telephony service, the ICG Netcom IP long distance
(IPLD) service requires users to prepay their
accounts using a major credit or debit card. Charges
are then deducted from the prepaid balance on a
user's account.
Cities included in phase one of the IPLD service
include Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver
and Englewood in Colorado; Alameda, Berkeley,
Canoga Park, Corona, Cupertino, Del Mar,
Hayward, Irvine, La Puente, Los Angeles, Oakland,
Ontario, Palo Alto, Pasadena, San Bernardino, San
Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, Santa
Rosa, Sunnyvale and Thousand Oaks in California;
and Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton in
Ohio.
Details of the IPLD service can be found on the
Web at netcom.com .
Reported by Newsbytes News Network, |
