internet telephony

This page is under construction.

In the interim three introductions are -

Internet Telephony (Cambridge: MIT Press 01) edited by Lee McKnight, William Lehr & David Clark - economic, market and regulatory studies

The Internet Telephone Toolkit (New York: Wiley 96) by Jeff Pulver

The Internet's Coming of Age, a report from the US National Academy of Sciences that centres on the evolution of telephony over the net.

A report presented by the ITU Secretary-General at the March 2001 World Telecommunication Policy Forum on Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony suggests that the VOIP market is now taking off, rising from almost zero voice calls in 1997 to just over 3% of international voice traffic (4 billion minutes) last year. Some estimates suggest that by 2004 up to 40% of all international telephone traffic may be net-based.

A May 2001 report from US corporate adviser Frost & Sullivan (Frost) was even more upbeat, claiming that during 2000 global wholesale and retail VoIP traffic topped 6 billion and 15 billion minutes respectively. In promoting the report Frost forecasts that VoIP will account for 75% of the world's voice telecommunications traffic by 2007.

Uptake of VoIP reflects the emergence of major carriers that are likely to drive traffic volume growth, invest heavily in infrastructure, improve consumer perceptions, leverage large commercial/domestic client lists and lobby for favourable regulatory treatment. Frost claims that internet telephony is no longer restricted to individuals who are enthusiastic, indifferent to quality and highly cost conscious.

Frost argues that VoIP will continue to enjoy a cost advantage for some time (e.g. around 70% cheaper than standard international charges) and forecasts that in the five years to 2006 IP telephony traffic will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 90%.

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