Pricing Strategies

SBC frees up line to Net 911 (May 11, 2005) Net phone services, which let Internet connections double as home phone lines, are rapidly gaining popularity. The number of residential Net phone subscribers in the United States is set to surge from 3 million this year to 27 million by 2009, according to data released by IDC last month.

Qwest rolls out Internet phone service (May 10, 2005) Qwest Communications has launched residential Internet telephone service for roughly the same price as traditional phone service but without fees that can add another 25 percent or more to a customer's bill. Qwest OneFlex will be available in 48 states, but it requires a customer to have a high-speed Internet connection. For $4.99 a month, a customer can get a "virtual number." For example, a customer living in Denver with parents in Omaha could pay an additional $4.99 for an Omaha number, and calls between his phone and his parents would be free.

Cable's New Pitch: Reach Out and Touch Someone (May 8, 2005) pays just $34.95 for unlimited local and long-distance calling, as well as call waiting and a half-dozen other services. Kirk Condyles for The New York Times People who rely on the Internet for phone service can use a dedicated Web site to check voice mail and forward messages. Calling Out the Competition"The No. 1 reason was the price," said Mr. Fields, 34, a financial industry broker who lives in St. James, N.Y. "And it's so simple to use - you go online and you can manage the whole thing from one place." They will have stiff competition from cable providers. By the end of the first quarter, Cablevision had signed up 364,000 subscribers for its digital phone service, and is adding about 1,000 new customers a day. Time Warner Cable had 372,000 customers. Comcast and Cox Communications both have more than 1.2 million traditional phone subscribers and both are now introducing digital phone service. At their current rate, the cable companies may soon eclipse the market leader, Vonage, which has 600,000 subscribers. Based in Edison, N.J., the company has done more than any other to popularize digital phone service, but it lacks the marketing firepower or full range of products to keep the cable industry at bay. For now, the market is big enough for both Vonage and the cable companies to thrive. Nationwide, there are roughly 180 million wire-line phones and another 173 million cellphones. Yet even the most optimistic forecasters expect only 27 million digital phone subscribers by 2009, just 15 percent of the fixed-phone-line market. [must read]

VoIP providers face price war (November 4, 2003) "A lot of people want to grab users, even if you don't make money," said Mario Bustamante, chief executive of broadband provider DSLi, which last month launched a stripped down $10-a-month VoIP plan. "It's a little like early DSL mentality, where people are going out and losing their shirt just to get eyeballs." Two weeks ago, Newton, Mass.-based broadband provider Galaxy Internet Services set a new standard for dialing plans offering unlimited long-distance and local calls by dropping its monthly fee to $20. The package includes unlimited dialing in the United States, plus voice mail, call waiting and call forwarding, among other features. [Must Read]

 

Technologies Incorporating VoIP

Skype Goes Boingo For Wi-Fi  (July 12, 2005) The companies today announced a new service called Skype Zones, which enables Skype usage across Boingo network of 18,000 global hotspots. The service is being initially offered at $8 a month for unlimited Wi-Fi access for Skype calls, which is significantly less than the $22 a month that Boingo currently charges for unlimited data access.

Zoom Into VoIP (July 12, 2004) The firm's first product is a ADSL (define) modem that can be bundled with the firm's new VoIP phone service. The offering is designed for out-of-the-box use and feature pay-as-you-go service as well as flat rate plans. Users can plug one or more phones into the box's ports to make VoIP calls or traditional calls, such as 911 dialing, local or toll-free dialing, or calls when the power fails. For VoIP calls, users hit "#" before the number. The company's new Global Village VoIP service includes a number of free features including IP-to-IP calling, call logs, conferencing and voicemail. The features are similar to offerings being rolled out by from Vonage and AT&T (Quote, Chart). A number of pricing options are available, including 2.9-cent-per-minute plan for U.S. and Canadian calls, or a flat fee $27.95 per month plan. And the gear does not lock users into receiving the service from Zoom.

Mobile Software Ties Wi-Fi, VoIP For Free Calls (April 7, 2004) A new way to merge two disruptive technologies--Internet phoning and Wi-Fi--was introduced Tuesday, in the form of mobile-PDA software from Skype Technologies. Called PocketSkype, the free software enables users of Microsoft PocketPC-based handhelds to connect to Wi-Fi access points to make free VoIP calls. Skype has competitors-SIPphone, Monday, announced a new VoIP service with Singapore Telecommunications, for instance--but with almost 10 million downloads of its free software, Skype is pulling ahead in the free VoIP race. Zennstrom said 4.5 million users have registered. On a typical day nearly 300,000 Skype users may be online at any given time.

Notebooks to dial up built-in phones (February 18 ,2004) Manufacturers plan to start selling notebooks with integrated Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) this year and plan later to offer notebooks with built-in cell phone capabilities, Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and general manager of the Intel Mobile Platforms Group, said in an interview. The PC-with-a-phone has been tried before, but mostly for comic effect. Compaq Computer, for instance, tried to popularize the concept in the mid-1990s by offering a PC with home phone headset jutting from the side. Intel, mostly in vain, attempted to turn videoconferencing into a big market around the same time.

Regulatory

State Level

Court Bars Regulation of Web Phone Service (December 29, 2004) A federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling yesterday that prohibits the state of Minnesota from regulating Internet-based phone calling as if it were a traditional telecommunications service.Last month the Federal Communications Commission issued its own rules on the subject, stating that Internet phone services should not be governed by the same state regulations as traditional telephone companies. The F.C.C. decision left open the possibility that the states could still tax Internet phone businesses.

States Plead Case for VoIP Regulation (February 25, 2004) The consensus [of utility commissioners] is that public interest obligations of a service derive from the functional nature of that service, not from the technology used to deliver it. Whether we realize it or not, we build our lives around a reliable telephone system. If a babysitter, God forbid, has to call 911, she'll need a reliable dial tone, clear service and effective routing to the nearest public safety answering point, and the local ambulance dispatcher will want to know where she is, even if she can't give the directions.

A Debate on Web Phone Service  (January 5, 2004)  Some want to see state regulation eliminated; others want to see regulation streamlined but kept intact. Many want to retain guarantees of 911 service and universal service for low-income and rural residents, but they differ considerably on how to achieve those goals. Even within the National Association of Utility Regulators, an influential lobbying group of state regulators, some top officials have greatly divergent views about how to regulate telecommunications in the 21st century. ... The fact that Vonage is not regulated and did not pay to build the national network may obscure the real cost of providing Internet-based phone service. Likewise, the cost to customers is not as low as it may seem. While consumers may pay less each month for Internet telephone service than for regular phone service, they cannot obtain the service unless they first have high-speed Internet access - on which they are likely to spend $40 to $70 a month. So the ability to use Internet phone service may actually require a total monthly outlay of $100 or more.

California to VoIP Operators: You're Regulated  (October 2, 2003)  California's telecommunications division said this week that major VoIP providers, including Vonage, VoicePulse, SBC Communications, Net2Phone and Packet8, have been told to apply for telephone-operator licenses. The action is a disappointment for the VoIP companies, which had argued that they should remain unregulated because their traffic moves over the Internet.

Time to Rewrite the Rules of Telecom  (September 8, 2003)  With so much up for grabs, states are taking an interest. On Aug. 12, Alabama ordered a "declaratory ruling" on whether VOIP will be subject to so-called access and interconnection charges that apply to traditional phone calls. Ohio's Public Utility Commission has opened an inquiry into how providers are using VOIP and whether such efforts constitute a telecom service subject to taxes and fees. Only Florida has ruled to leave VOIP unregulated. But that was in exchange for allowing incumbent telecom BellSouth to boost its rates by $1 billion, an increase that otherwise would have been spread over six years.

Federal Level

Net phone 911 mandate may hit nomads hardest (May 19, 2005) The FCC, in a unanimous vote, gave what appears to be a large percentage of commercial VoIP operators about three months to have in place a service that connects 911 callers directly to an emergency dispatcher and provides dispatchers with a call back number and the caller's address. VoIP, or voice over Internet Protocol, allows for cheaper calling because it routes calls over the Internet rather than the traditional telephone network, which is heavily regulated and taxed. The fallout is already becoming clear, even though the nitty-gritty of the decision won't be completely apparent for several days. Of the details released Thursday, the decision appears to have a big impact on "nomadic" VoIP providers, which hand out phone numbers that aren't based on where subscribers live. "Nomadic services face major implementation challenges," FCC Commissioner Adelstein said Thursday before the 911 mandate was approved. "But it's essential to meet these obligations. It's critical we monitor developments on this front."

The Showdown Over VoIP (April 27, 2005) On Nov. 9, 2004, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that voice-over-Internet protocol, or VoIP, services are inherently interstate and cannot be governed by state public utility regulations. The FCC order preempted a move by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to subject New Jersey-based Vonage Holdings to Minnesota phone service regulations. And if a VoIP service provider commits fraudulent or otherwise unsavory practices, businesses can still turn to their state attorney general's office. The FCC ruling doesn't preclude that, he says. That's not enough, retort the states. "How do you provide important consumer protection?" asks Burl Haar, executive secretary of the Minnesota PUC, which is appealing the FCC ruling. "The details haven't been fully worked out. Clearly, there are state and fed jurisdictions that need to be resolved." Among those consumer protections are an effective VoIP 911 system. Haar and other state officials argue that such services are public-safety issues and require strong state regulations. For now, though, the FCC is stepping aside and letting two telecommunications industry groups, the Voice On the Net Coalition and the National Emergency Number Assn., propose a VoIP 911 system.

VoIP future hangs on regulatory decisions (October 18, 2004) There is little question VoIP providers will eventually pay into universal funds and to [federal] e-rate [funding of IT gear for schools] and provide 911 emergency services," he says. "The question is at what expense?" Internationally, the International Telecommunications Union is working on VoIP regulation recommendations that would be incorporated in treaties, says Walda Roseman, CEO of telecom consultancy Compass Rose

House to Tackle Internet Calls (July 6, 2004) Two companion bills in the House and Senate, both named The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004, intend to address the issue by protecting VOIP services from overzealous regulation. The House version, HR 4129, is sponsored by Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Mississippi). The Senate bill, S. 2281, is sponsored by Sen. John Sununu (R-New Hampshire). Despite past suspicion of VOIP services, even the United States Telecom Association, or USTA, now favors mostly unregulated VOIP. Why? Because incumbent phone companies are getting into the VOIP business themselves, and don't want to live under the kind of rules they face in the heavily regulated traditional phone business. Another touchy issue involves bringing VOIP services under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994, or CALEA, which requires telcos to design their phone systems to meet wiretapping standards set by the government. Internet service providers were exempted from the requirements, but law enforcement authorities advocate extending the rules to the Internet. 

FCC urged to keep VoIP regulation-free (April 7, 2004) "We urge the commission to send a clear signal of forbearance on new taxation and regulation," said the letter's 34 signers, which included many groups that are influential within the Republican Party. Among the signers are the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Republicans United for Tax Relief, and the Family Research Council. Some of the coalition members are close to the law-and-order wing of the Republican Party and might not agree to sign a letter that could be seen as opposing the FBI. Other members, like Americans for Tax Reform, have been strong defenders of encryption and electronic privacy in the past. Wednesday's letter also calls for a renewal of a temporary federal ban on Internet access taxes, which expired in November. "In the period since the moratorium has expired, many state and local elected leaders have begun eyeing new charges on Internet access and commerce," the letter said.

F.C.C. Begins Rewriting Rules on Delivery of the Internet (February 13, 2004) Michael K. Powell, the F.C.C. chairman, and his two Republican colleagues on the five-member commission said the twin moves, and a separate 4-to-1 vote Thursday to allow a small company providing computer-to-computer phone connections to operate under different rules from ordinary phone companies, would ultimately transform the telecommunications industry and the Internet.

FCC chief: regulating Internet phones may backfire   (January 9, 2004)  Harm from misregulation of Internet phone service could take "decades to fix," said Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show here. "You (can) create a very hostile regulatory environment for voice-over-IP providers in the United States," Powell said.

New Rules for the New Telecom  (January 6, 2004)  FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin answers some tough regulatory questions raised by the "constantly morphing" VoIP services. There are currently three petitions pending before the commission. The Pulver petition asks, among other things, that a call from one computer to another computer be treated as an information, not a telephone, service. The two others from Vonage and AT&T  are asking for decisions on how to treat calls that use voice over IP for just one piece of the call's journey, such as transport or to connect to customers in their homes.
The commission is hopeful that we'll make a decision on the Pulver petition soon. We'll also release a notice of proposed rulemaking that will solicit comments from relevant parties on many of the questions that have arisen about how we should be treating the VoIP services that currently are offered.
 
FCC Ponders VoIP Regulations  (December 3, 2003)  When the FCC's Internet Policy Working Group begins wheeling into action in January, one of its first items of business will be to determine whether VoIP will seep into the nation's telephone universe quietly over a period of several years or sweep in with a vengeance in a few months. Indeed, the timetable for IP telephoning will likely dictate the action the IPWG will recommend. FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell announced the establishment of the working group at a meeting Monday that delved into the rapidly developing VoIP universe.

VoIP Regulation in America: A View from the Trenches  (November 23, 2003)  It seems that the regulatory wolves have been staved off for the moment, with a ruling from the Minnesota Circuit Court that defines IPCSPs as "Information Service Providers" and not "Telephony Service Providers," a seemingly minor but very important distinction. The Court's ruling (in summary) said that Congress had defined the Internet as a no-regulation zone, and that IPCSPs were clearly in that sphere, regardless of what services they offered. By this definition, there should be no regulation of IPCSPs. This seems to be a very fragile ruling, whose basis may change if Congress makes some longer-term ruling on taxation and/or regulation of Internet services. However, for the time being, I expect it to remain adequate to shield IPCSPs from regulatory intervention. The Circuit Court's ruling contradicted a lower court's statement that Vonage (an IPCSP) was a "Telephony Service Provider" that needed to be licensed under the same rules as telephone companies. Other states are still considering regulatory steps (California being the most important), but I suspect that the Minnesota ruling will put a damper on any regulatory firestarters for several months, at least. [Must Read]

Judge Gives Leg Up to Internet Calls (October 13, 2003) As just another Internet application, the new technology remains free of a wide range of telephone industry encumbrances like access charges, taxes, service reliability requirements and rules supporting programs like emergency 911 service. Companies like Vonage buy bulk capacity on the phone networks and pay privately negotiated rates to connect to them. Vonage said that it also pays $1.50 per phone number assigned to subscribers into a regulatory fund that supports universal phone service. Vonage and other Internet telephone services say they are also working voluntarily with regulators on ways to meet public policy goals like extending emergency 911 service to their customers. The established phone companies, however, are in no hurry to have regulations for Internet telephone service, which they themselves have been using for several years within their own networks. Some, like the AT&T Corporation, convert standard calls into Internet data packets and then send huge amounts of their own traffic on Internet lines in an effort to cut access payments to other carriers. In fact, lawsuits and regulatory disputes have been proliferating over just such practices. One obvious concern is how to support universal service programs that provide subsidies for phone service to rural areas and poor customers and for efforts to deliver broadband Internet access to schools and libraries. At the federal level, more than $5 billion annually is collected for such service programs from a levy on long-distance phone companies - currently 9.2 percent of revenues.

Court hangs up state VoIP rules (October 17, 2003) In a 22-page opinion released Thursday, Judge Michael J. Davis of the district of Minnesota wrote that VoIP provider Vonage is an "information service" rather than a "telecommunications service" and therefore exempt from state regulation. The opinion was issued a week after the judge ordered an injunction permanently barring Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission from forcing Vonage to get a telephone operator's license to do business in the state. The Minnesota opinion furthers a contentious debate over how--or even if--governments should regulate new Internet services. Earlier this month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came down on the opposite side of the debate, throwing out the Federal Communication Commission's classification of cable broadband as an information service. About 1 million people use VoIP in the United States, using paid services such as Vonage, Net2Phone and Packet8. Others use free services such as Skype, Free World Dial-Up, SipPhone or those from major instant messaging providers to chat only between computers. The main draw for consumers is the price of a phone call. Subscription services are either free or cheaper than traditional phone service by as much as $20 a month. VoIP calls are cheaper because they avoid the toll roads of the telephone companies' private networks. Major telephone companies are also using VoIP to route calls at significantly lower costs. For now, about 10 percent of all telephone calls use the Internet in some way. But most analysts believe that in about a decade, nearly every call will use the Internet. [Must Read]

 Bells: FCC needs to take quick action on VoIP  (October 20, 2003) While agreeing that a federal judge ruled correctly by declaring that the brand of voice-over-IP service provided by Edison, N.J.-based Vonage is an information service, both BellSouth and Verizon Communications said today that important questions still remain concerning the still nascent but fast-growing technology.

Deployments

Domestic

Cisco inks Boeing VoIP deal (July 12, 2004) Cisco is set to announce one of its largest Internet telephony contracts to date. The entire project will take roughly five to seven years from start to finish, said Mike Terrill, program manager for network convergence at Boeing. The company, which is one of the world's largest makers of commercial jetliners, military aircraft and equipment for the United States space program, has more than 150,000 employees in 48 states and 70 countries. The Boeing contract comes as Cisco's IP telephony business seems to be gaining momentum. In August 2002, the company said it shipped 1 million IP phones, an accomplishment that took the company three and a half years to achieve. One year later, Cisco announced that it reached the 2 million mark, and in April of this year, its shipments increased to 3 million IP phones overall. The company claims that it is displacing more than 6,000 traditional business phones every day. But the company has hit some snags along the way. A year ago, Merrill Lynch began replacing its Cisco Internet telephony gear with new equipment from Avaya.

SBC's VoIP Targets Former Siblings  (November 20, 2003) SBC Communications said Thursday it will to enter the territories of its former Baby Bell siblings with a VoIP service. "Beginning today," states the SBC announcement, "SBC companies are rolling out powerful new service options as part of the SBC IP portfolio, including an innovative new hosted VoIP product. "With regulatory approval to offer long distance services in all 50 states, the company is now able to deliver IP services nationwide, provide compelling and much-needed new choices for business customers."

Qwest signals support of Net phone service (November 5, 2003) Qwest will offer Internet-based telephone service in Minnesota to save on regulatory expenses and other costs, and to "break the massive regulatory logjam that exists today," CEO Richard Notebaert said Tuesday. VoIP mainly has been offered to consumers by small Internet phone companies, although Qwest offers VoIP to its large business customers. The Qwest announcement was made soon after a serious setback for the PUC in which a federal judge in Minneapolis ruled that the commission could not regulate VoIP company Vonage Holdings Corp. because it provided a data-based information service rather than a telephone service. The PUC asked the court to amend its findings or to make the injunction against PUC regulation of Vonage temporary pending further investigation.

BellSouth offers VoIP for businesses (October 29, 2003) The Atlanta-based company, which has 45 million customers in 15 countries, emphasized what it called the new offering's "easy migration path to voice over Internet Protocol." The company said businesses want a service that allows them to gradually switch to Internet-based phone systems without overhauling their networks. BellSouth's announcement also comes just a week after the company was dealt a VoIP-related setback in its home state. The Georgia Public Service Commission ordered BellSouth to let customers buy broadband services alone, which some hailed as a win for the growing number of people using Internet telephone providers. BellSouth's service is designed for businesses of between 12 and "several hundred" phone users. Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks are providing the hardware. The phone company has other IP projects in the works, including market trials for Centrex IP, and other Net telephone services it expects to launch next year.

Net2Phone dials in Puerto Rico cable company  (October 23, 2003) A small cable operator in Puerto Rico is helping Internet phone provider Net2Phone take a big step into new territory. The operator, Liberty Cablevision, said Thursday that it has hired Net2Phone to provide a VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service to its customers, beginning early next year. Net2Phone is acting as a "host" for the service by supplying all the gear, day-to-day management and other resources for the cable operator, a Net2Phone representative said.

Cablevision to offer commercial VoIP (September 18, 2003) The VoIP service, dubbed Optimum Voice, will be offered exclusively to subscribers to Cablevision's Optimum Online high-speed Internet access service, for a flat rate of $34.95 per month. The package offers customers unlimited local and long-distance calling, along with a list of other features such as call waiting, caller ID, call return (*69), three-way calling and call forwarding, according to Cablevision.

International

UK's BT, Yahoo Launch Instant Message Voice Service (July 15, 2004) Britain's top fixed-line telecoms operator BT Group (BT.L) launched a new service on Thursday allowing users to make phone calls over Yahoo Inc's (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) instant messenger product, the companies said. The new offering, called BT Communicator with Yahoo Messenger, uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which carries speech over the Internet. A call to another BT VoIP user's PC is free. A call from the computer to a landline or mobile phone carries the same tariff as BT's normal BT Together telephone service. BT said the service is available to over 19 million UK consumers with a BT line, and the software will be made freely available.

Telkom: Redefining the Rules (June 23, 2003) And when Parliament passed a new telecom law in 1999 declaring that the government's international operator, Indonesian Satellite (Indosat), would have to surrender its monopoly on international calls on September 1, 2003, Telkom decided it couldn't wait. It found a detour around Indonesia's cumbersome regulations and broke into the international-call market in May, 2002, with voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP), which uses Net-based technology to make voice calls.
The invaluable lesson Telkom took from VoIP is that a determined player can find legal ways around a government's sometimes stifling rules -- while increasing revenues and cutting costs. "This is the thing we learned from the market," says Adeng Ahmad, head of Telkom's multimedia division, which runs the VoIP service. Telkom is applying this lesson again by finding a gap between regulations governing fixed lines and cellular networks. In several cities, it's marketing a kind of digital wireless technology as an "enhanced cordless phone" that customers can take off the hook and carry anywhere within their own urban area code -- across the sprawling capital of Jakarta, for example -- at lower fixed-line rates.

VoIP Obstacles

VoIP Security Chief Warns of "Life And Death" Security Threats (April 11, 2005) "VoIP networks inherit most of the same security threats that traditional data networks are plagued with today," he notes. "However, by adding new VoIP components to an existing data infrastructure, new security requirements are also added: quality of service, reliability, and privacy. We can expect to see over the next year or two VoIP specific attack emerge that go beyond today's more prevalent data network vulnerabilities, but try to exploit the VoIP applications themselves." In addition to the expected data network threats, Endler points out that security vulnerabilities have also been discovered in the H.323 and session initiation protocols themselves. The worst-case scenario is dire, indeed. As if denial of service attacks, viruses, Trojans and worms aren't enough, the privacy implications of digital eavesdropping on voice calls, identity and voice-theft are immense. But beyond that, Endler says, our reliance on voice communications for basic needs raises the stakes even higher. The bottom line, he says is that "the worst case scenarios involve life and death implications when you look at emergency services call centers" like 911, police and fire departments.

VoIP's broadband bottleneck (April 5, 2004) Analysts forecast that VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls will eventually outstrip conventional calls, thanks to cost savings of up to 30 percent. Consumer demand has been encouraging, providers say, and VoIP plans have now been announced by all of the major carriers in the United States, as well as by their cable rivals. For its VoIP service, AT&T recommends a minimum of 90 kilobits per second for both upload and download speeds. Cable broadband services typically offer a maximum download speed of about 1.5 megabits per second (mbps) for standard service, and a maximum upload speed of 256kbps. Even services that offer data rates considerably higher than 90kbps can run into trouble, however, since actual connection speeds are affected by a number of factors and rarely run at the maximum threshold.

FCC Fines N.Car. Provider $15K For Blocking Vonage (March 3, 2005) The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that it had reached a $15,000 consent decree with Madison River Communications, a Mebane, North Carolina service provider that calls itself the "17th largest phone company in the US," with "234,204 connections in service." According to the FCC, Madison River pledged to "refrain from blocking VOIP traffic and ensure that such blocking will not recur." FCC chairman Michael Powell, who has made his vision for "Internet Freedoms" a very public crusade, said the decree supports his views that the Internet should remain open to all types of traffic. "In my view, the surest way to preserve 'Net Freedom' is to handle these issues in an enforcement context where hypothetical worriers give way to concrete facts and -- as we have shown today -- real solutions," said Powell in a statement released by the FCC. "The industry must adhere to certain consumer protection norms if the Internet is to remain an open platform for innovation," he added.

VoIP Failures

Alaska cancels VoIP contract (September 16, 2003) Alaska Communications Systems (ACS) had promised to install 20,000 voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones at more than 400 sites by April 2003, but the company had delivered only 239 phones as of last week. Alaska's deputy commissioner of administration, added that the installed phones, which all came from Cisco Systems, did not pass quality standards agreed to in the ACS contract. "ACS has invested more than $20 million to meet its obligations under this agreement and has consistently accommodated the state even beyond the scope of the original agreement," Robinson said in a statement. Monday's decision ends a sweeping outsourcing deal struck in 2001 that covered about a dozen state communications services, and it puts the state's VoIP overhaul up for grabs.

Cable IP Phone On Hold For Most MSOs (January 1, 2001) In the fall of 1998 Canadian MSO Le Groupe Videotron grabbed headlines by announcing plans for the world's first full-scale lifeline cable IP telephony rollout in partnership with Cisco Systems and Telcordia. Since then, the North American cable industry has viewed the Videotron effort in Montreal as a sign of things to come. While the sentiment has proved prophetic, the outcome is opposite of what many expected. Two years after announcing the initiative, Videotron had installed less than 2,000 cable IP telephone customers. Following its acquisition of Videotron this fall, Canadian media conglomerate Quebecor quietly pulled the plug on the MSO's voice over IP (VoIP) deployment. The reason? Quebecor sees cable primarily as a video and broadband Internet access play in the near term.