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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1988)	11/24/1998 9:08:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3178

Stephen, All, what do you make of this excerpt, and the rest of your posted message #1988? Specifically, the board recommended the FCC adopt rules barring companies from creating a line-item charge that is greater than their share for supporting affordable phone service. The board also suggested that companies be barred from depicting the fees as a tax. Sounds to me like the hornets' nest is about to be disturbed.

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1988)	11/25/1998 2:24:00 PM
From: Daniel G. DeBusschere	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

"The board also suggested that companies be barred from depicting the fees as a tax." When is a government required Tax Not a Tax? It should be illegal to call Social Security deductions a TAX? I hope they keep this up and then let's all watch the backlash!! Stupid bureaucrats will always hang themselves. The FCC is no exception.

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1988)	12/1/1998 8:08:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

"While IP voice over cable has been shown before, the combination of voice and data capabilities in a single cable modem is a significant advance" Voice over IP adds spice to cable modem services" December 1, 1998 Network World: Anaheim, Calif. Cable modem service providers may soon have a new weapon to use in their fight against digital subscriber line (DSL) service provide rs: voice over IP. At the Western Cable Show here this week, Motorola will demonstrate a prototype cable modem that can also handle IP voice. The company expects the box, known as an integrated multimedia terminal adapter (MTA), to be in full production by mid-1999. With it, cable providers can be expected to offer voice and data services to homes over the same coaxial cable that delivers TV service. "It's a great telecommuter answer. Many corporations are talking about doing voice over IP internally, and this could extend that out to the telecommuter," says Jeff Wilson, director of access programs at Infonetics Research in San Jose, Calif. While IP voice over cable has been shown before, the combination of voice and data capabilities in a single cable modem is a significant advance, according to Jim Wahl, an analyst with The Yankee Group in Boston. Until now, to put voice and data on the cable network required a modem and a separate voice gateway, which Infonetics' Wilson says is a more complex and expensive approach. DSL uses over traditional phone lines to deliver a voice channel and a high-bandwidth datastream, and strides are being made to ensure the interoperability of DSL modems (see story, page 30). Motorola's MTA prototype has a telephone port and a four-port Ethernet hub built into it. Data speeds on the cable can be as high as 10M bit/sec depending on how many other customers are using the same shared cable subnet to exchange information. The integrated MT A uses proprietary methods for ensuring there is enough bandwidth to prevent voice packets from getting delayed. Motorola is still trying to slim down the design of the integrated MTA to cut costs, so pricing has not been set for the production model, according to Jeff Walker, director of marketing for Motorola's cable data products. But even without the integrated MTA, Time Warner Cable in San Diego last week started testing an IP voice and data service designed for telecommuters. Time Warner is using a separate Motorola MTA in conjunction with a stand-alone cable modem to support the service . Testing it out Qualcomm, the wireless communications hardware maker, is the test customer, buying the service for 10 of its work-at-home employees. The company is interested in voice over IP generally as a way to save money over traditional circuit-switched local and long-distan ce voice service. Qualcomm is also looking for an alternative to ISDN for its telelcommuters, according to Corey Hale, a network eng ineer for the company. ISDN can cost more than $300 per month in California, depending on use. " It comes down to money. If we weren't worried about money, we'd stick with ISDN," he says. To make phone calls, a remote user dials the desired number, and the call is converted to IP packets that are sent over the cable ne twork to Qualcomm's headquarters. There the packets are converted back to voice signals that run through the corporate PBX to the pu blic telephone network. Time Warner is offering the service for its standard data-only cable modem service fee of $40 per month. When voice and data become regular services, the price will increase to $75 to $100 per month, according to Richard Kirby, sales manager for business services at Time Warner Cable. <<Network World -- 11-30-98, p. 10>>

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1988)	12/1/1998 8:10:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Cost gives Net global-call edge December 1, 1998 Nikkei English News: Nikkei Weekly-copyright Nihon Keizai Shimbun,Inc. Cost gives Net global-call edge Online alternative offers improved quality, draws major players BY TORU TAKAHASHI Staff writer International phone calls keep getting cheaper in Japan, and one of the cheapest ways to call overseas is to use the Internet. Unlike a typical telephone call, which sends an analog audio signal from one receiver to the other over the familiar network of phone lines, an Internet call digitizes the analog signal and sends the conversation as packets of data via the Internet. Numerous data packets from numerous calls can share the same line, so the process is more efficient and the phone calls less expensive than regular calls. In the beginning, Internet phone service was more a novelty than a serious form of communications, and the service was offered primarily by small ventures and providers of Internet access. Though the calls were cheap, connection quality was poor. Now that many of the technical glitches have been overcome and there is no longer a need for special software, the major telecommunications giants are entering the fray. The first of the majors to offer Internet phone service in Japan was AT&T Jens Corp., a subsidiary of AT&T Corp. of the U.S. It began its AT& T@phone service in August 1997. Subscribers do not pay a fee to join or a basic monthly fee to use the service. They dial a toll-free number, enter their identification and password, and then dial the number they wish to call. Three minutes, 99 yen A call to the U.S. is 99 yen (80 cents) for three minutes, 80% less than a regular international call with Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co. (KDD). AT& T@phone's popularity has spread by word of mouth; it now has about 80,000 subscribers. KDD entered the market itself at the end of last year through its wholly owned subsidiary KDD Communications Inc. Its service, Super Economy Phone, charges a basic fee of 500 yen per month. A call to the U.S. costs 90 yen for three minutes. Japan Telecom Co. joined the competition this October via its subsidiary Japan Telecom Networks. Its service, Internet Dial, charges 150 yen for a three-minute call to the U.S., but a user can send faxes as well as talk. The service is 20-30% cheaper than the Internet fax services being offered by companies such as DDI Corp. and a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. <<Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. -- 11-30-98>> [Copyright 1998, Nikkei America]