FangVoIP, VoiceoverIP, commonly known as VoIP, is called a new revolution that subverts the American telephone industry. With the popularization of broadband services, VoIP is recognized by more and more users. At the end of 2003, VoIP was finally listed as a formal service project for users by several major operators in the United States. Does this herald the beginning of a new revolution?
The road of VoIP is in the ascendant.
American Jupiter analysis company predicts that VoIP is changing from the high-tech favored by IT professionals to something within the reach of ordinary users. From 2003 to 2007, it is estimated that the number of households calling on the Internet in the United States will soar from 654.38 million+to 4 million.
This strong development trend is inseparable from the easing policy of the United States.
The United States listed VoIP as a value-added service from the beginning, and the American courts defined VoIP as an unregulated field, so that service providers do not need to pay the local telephone company an access fee accounting for about 40% of the long-distance telephone fee when providing long-distance telephone service. Loose policies and huge market potential have attracted many traditional and emerging telecom companies to join the research, development and operation of VoIP.
In the process of popularization of VoIP public service, some network operators specializing in international IP telephony have been separated from traditional ISP service providers. These companies have built their own networks, equipped with gateways and centralized management facilities, and have end-to-end management capabilities. They can provide various special services, such as ITSP (Telephone ISP), such as ITXC Company in the United States, and realize voice intercommunication through its network dedicated to connecting Internet phones for communication companies.
In this case, the natural choice of traditional telecom operators is to cooperate with ITSP. As the backbone Internet access provider in the United States, Sprint actively provides Internet services and cheap VoIP services to more users by investing in the next generation network.
Long-distance telephone giant AT & amp； T company also felt the pressure from all sides. By establishing a global clearing center and signing a contract with Net2phone, it expanded its network to other ISPs and transferred international calls from leased lines to the GlobalServices network. 65438+February 2003 1 1 day, at & amp； T finally made a final decision, announced the launch of VoIP service, and planned to reach 1 million users in the next two years. In addition to launching Internet telephony services for the first time in three East Coast markets, AT & amp； T will also extend VoIP to some existing corporate customer services.
Quest Communication International, which is not far behind, began to implement VoIP service among its broadband users from June 5 to February 8, 2003. In addition, cable TV service providers have begun to share a piece of their powerful cable TV network. Time warner Inc Inc., a cable giant, said it had reached agreements with Sprint Communication and MCI to expand VoIP services.
It seems that a new round of VoIP business war is ready to go, and competition is also the best way to make the industry flourish.
The road to VoIP is confusing.
Although all kinds of enterprises are trying to keep up with the pace of the market, a decisive problem has not been solved. Whether this debate can reach a satisfactory conclusion or not, it is still too early for Internet telephony to become a real revolution in the United States and replace the traditional copper telephone line. Telephone companies believe that the new technology adopted by VoIP is to package and transmit voice data through the Internet like e-mail, so VoIP should also enjoy the same freedom as e-mail. Opponents put forward a series of policy management issues such as "universal service fund" to refute. In this regard, American state governments have made different decisions. Because FCC, as an authoritative organization, refuses to express its position on this issue in the short term, the future of VoIP is still confusing. In fact, if VoIP is really free, it will inevitably bring all kinds of thorny problems. The problem of 1.e9 1 1 must be solved.
After the "9 1 1" catastrophic accident, the United States strengthened the wireless emergency communication strategy of E9 1 1. In the United States, E9 1 1 is provided as a public service by traditional telephone operators and is not tied to commercial contracts. In fact, this has caused some unstable factors for users to choose the call mode. Of course, with the continuous expansion of VoIP service, the existing laws and regulations will not remain unchanged.
2. The concept of public information transportation has been challenged.
The concept of public information transportation, which provides services for most people, no longer points to the traditional telephone operators that are strictly regulated, but is increasingly shared by emerging Internet telephone service providers. But what needs to be shared is not only the market share, but also the sense of industry responsibility, and its complex connotation is worth pondering by all parties.
3. The "universal service fund" has been eroded.
If FCC chooses not to charge supervision fees for VoIP, the prospect of "universal service fund" is worrying. The source of the "universal service fund" is to deduct it from ordinary telephone charges in proportion to provide subsidies for telephone services and Internet services used in remote areas. In the worst case, in the expanding VoIP market, users and service providers share the "universal service fund", which leads to the existence of the FCC fund in name only.
4. The implementation law of communication assistance law needs to be revised.
If VoIP becomes the mainstream communication mode in the future, the Communication Assistance Law Enforcement Act passed by the US Congress 1994 is likely to need to be revised. Some of these clauses conflict with many details of current VoIP, and the supported "lawful interception" part may no longer be applicable to VoIP.
Experience and enlightenment of VoIP in the United States
1. Combination of Internet telephony and Internet access
From the situation of the United States and even other countries in the world, VoIP and Internet access are inseparable. High internet access rate is the material prerequisite for the vigorous development of VoIP, and the popularization and promotion of VoIP can stabilize the Internet market, especially the broadband market, to a certain extent. The combination of the two, whether it is technical integration or sales bundling, can establish a new business model and find a breakthrough in the traditional telephone industry. However, this just shows that the unbalanced internet access rate is becoming the next obstacle of VoIP. The combination of Internet telephony and Internet access may deepen the existing digital divide and bring this high-tech difference into the traditional telephone industry.
2. Policy supervision: Freedom is a double-edged sword.
In terms of regulatory policies, the United States and Europe provide two different cases. If the free and open American policy provides a warm spring for Internet telephony, then Europe with strict laws and regulations has created a severe winter for it. The results of both are obvious to all. As a new technology, it is an American tradition to develop first and then standardize. Therefore, the United States has naturally become the base of Internet technology. However, the rapid development has also led to the widespread popularization of immature technologies, and a series of unsolved problems have brought new troubles while users enjoy high technology.
Freedom is a double-edged sword, which not only brings prosperity to the industry, but also leaves the whole market in a state of chaos and disorder.
3. Several key points of market expansion
Because of the technology itself, VoIP users usually go through three stages of change. First, high-tech enterprises try it out internally, then ordinary enterprises gradually accept it, and finally individual users are widely popularized. Different user groups require market operators and developers to carry out technical and publicity planning for VoIP in a hierarchical and targeted manner.
In the process of winning users, the primary focus is education. The vigorous development of VoIP in the United States is based on users' high awareness and trust in the Internet itself, which has become a serious obstacle to the promotion of new technologies in South America, where Internet technology is not popular. Secondly, price is not an eternal advantage. For enterprise users, choosing VoIP not only saves costs, but also hopes that it can contain more rich and practical functions, and continuous technological innovation is the long-term solution. Finally, continuous market segmentation will help to develop auxiliary functions for different types of users.
Data link: VoIP in other countries
Compared with the United States, the development of VoIP in Europe is not satisfactory. This is because when Internet telephony developed on a large scale in Europe, Council of Europe adopted strict control measures to protect the interests of traditional telephone companies.
In Japan, some technical innovations of VoIP have attracted people's attention. In 2002, BB Technology Company, a subsidiary of Softbank, launched the "BBPhone" VoIP service, which combined VoIP and SDN broadband access, allowing users to enjoy VoIP service through a demodulator instead of a computer. At one time, it was well received by users, but due to imperfect technology and poor sound quality, it encountered setbacks in the development process.
In South America, the limited Internet access rate and poor Internet knowledge users make the demand for VoIP flat. In 2002, VoIP reached $7.09 billion, and it is expected that this number will increase by 265,438+0.5% in 2007.
In Singapore, VoIP is no longer the privilege of high-tech enterprises, but is widely accepted by multinational enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. Schools and government agencies are also increasingly adopting this new technology. With the rapid development of broadband access, individual users have become the mainstream market in the future.
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