VOIP Weblog

Commentary On New Google-AOL Deal

Bussinessweek.com writer Olga Kharif in an article entitled, “Google-AOL: The First Step to VoIP Interoperability,” commented on the recent news of Google purchasing shares in AOL.

Based on this new agreement, VoIP users for Google and AOL will now be allowed to communicate with each other.

Kharif feels that this will give both companies an edge over their competitors such as Yahoo!, Skype, and Msn,  “To begin with, this interoperability should give the two companies an advantage over rival Instant Messenger-like VoIP services offered by Skype, MSN and Yahoo. Google, in particular, is likely to benefit: Until now, many Internet users might have hesitated to use Google's VoIP service for fear that they'd be left out of communications loop since all of their friends used AOL Instant Messenger (IM). Now, they won't have to worry about that,” she wrote.

Comcast Adds New Subscribers

Comcast announced that is has been added over 200,000 new VoIP subscribers at the end of 2005. With this new data, the largest cable operator in the US will now have 1.3 million customers to its VoIP technology.

Whether circuit-switched or packet-switched, Comcast hopes to add another one million customers to its database by the end of 2006 stated Brian Roberts, CEO: “We’ll be 2 million phone customers by 2006,” he said.

Compared to Vonage, Comcast believes their goal will be easily met, as Vonage was able to add 1 million customers last September.

However, in order for Comcast to reach this goal, it will have to increase its penetration rate of its Comcast Digital Voice product in which 60% of its marketing area does not have the technology to use VoIP.

The Increasing Popularity of VoIP

At the Consumer Electronics Show there were numerous products dedicated to VoIP, which left the writer on acmqueue.com, calling it the “Year of VoIP”.

The popularity of VoIP has grown tremendously and more consumers are becoming interested in this product. Also the technology magazines are feeding into this frenzy, in such a way that almost every feature article appearing in the tech magazines are about VoIP.

In the beginning many of the companies or consumers who had first heard about VoIP were quit skittish about it, having not known all the facts. Others however, felt that the technology might cause them to pay more than their regular phone bill. However, with an increasing number of new customers a day, many people are realizing the benefits that having VoIP can bring.

Kodak and Skype Announce Partnership

Kodak and Skype were pleased to announce a new agreement this week that will let Skype VoIP customers display photos. This new features is based on Skype’s VoIP technology, and Kodak’s Easyshare features that both companies are well known for.

Skype is planning on launching the beta version of this software either by the middle of January. Each user must install the new Skype software and can create a professionally looking presentation of pictures.

However, using the technology the other person you are chatting with cannot download the pictures, but instead can only view them.

Empirix: The Company To Watch In 2006

According to an article appearing on tmcnet.com, VoIP magazine has stated that Empirix is the company that market analysts and investors keep an eye on in 2006.

Presently, Empirix distributes a wide range of products that are geared to monitoring network equipment and solutions, as well as supporting thousands of customers worldwide.

VoIP’s magazine Top 20 list of companies to “watch out for” grades each company based on “how stable the company is, and the impact they are likely to make in the VoIP industry, within the next twelve months”.

So far Empirix has been viewed as one of the leaders in VoIP technology and it will become more popular as more company’s “make QoS a higher priority”.

Uniden’s new UIP165P VoIP Cordless Phone

8x8 and Uniden have introduced a new co-branded cordless VoIP phone called the UIP165P. The phone was released today at the International Consumer Electronics Show, and it features a 5.8 GHz DSS technology enabled for VoIP telephony.

About ten handsets can be added to the VoIP system, which also includes a bonus Handset and charger, equipped with Caller ID. The UIP165P comes equipped with a speakerphone and keyboard, along with the ability to switch calls between each handset.

8x8’s new service will provide unlimited VoIP service for $19.99 in the United States and Canada. Along with this, customers will receive bonus features such as call waiting, call forwarding, E911, and caller ID.

8x8’s announcement was released just a day after Vonage announced it had signed an agreement with Panasonic to produce the VoIP321 cordless phone.

Will Phones Become Obsolete?

An article appearing on a British website, lse.co.uk, stated that it is expected that eventually the telephone will become obsolete.

It is estimated over 10 million people in Britain will be using VoIP service by the end of 2006, and at least half of the population will be using VoIP in the next 5 years.

The biggest providers of VoIP service in the UK are Wanadoo, BT, and Skype which allow users to download software and talk to others for free with the same software. Also, VoIP makes it possible to call landline and cellular phones.

British VoIP provider Wanadoo has estimated that it will at least 19% and 25% of the younger and older generations respectively, will make the change to VoIP next year. While more than 32% of Scotland residents are expected to embrace VoIP technology.

Microsoft Enters VoIP Partnership

Microsoft announced that it has teamed up with Softbank BB, a Japanese VoIP firm to introduce VoIP, Internet access, email, and instant messaging to companies in Japan.

This new agreement will allow small to medium size businesses the ability to incorporate their telecommunications into one. These features will be added to the Windows Live Messenger service that will replace Msn Messenger.

Most of the VoIP technology will be provided by Softbank BB, whereas Microsoft will be responsible for setting up the network servers that will be needed for trials to begin in the Spring of 2006.

If this is successful in Japan, Microsoft then plans to introduce this system to the Western world.

Rates Technology, Inc. Sues Google

Rates Technology Inc. announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Google.com over its “Google Talk” VoIP service, in which Rates Tech alleges they hold the patent for VoIP software programming.

Rates Technology Inc. stated that they expect that the compensation for them winning the lawsuit from Google will reach $5 billion if the case takes four years to complete.

The company is also said to be holding talks with America Online and Ebay about the Skype VoIP service that is being offered. According to an article on Forbes.com, so far “120 companies, including Lucent, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo and Microsoft, have paid RTI to use the technology for Voice over Internet Protocol calls”.

Google is not the only company that Rates Technology Inc has sued. It currently has lawsuits drawn against Cablevision Systems Corp and Vonage Holdings Corp as well.

VoIP Battle Taking Place In Atlanta

It seems that the one of the leading telecommunications provider in Atlanta Comcast has announced that it has started signing up approximately 1000 people a day for it new Digital Voice VoIP service.

However the market in Atlanta will also be shared with BellSouth. Comcast is prepared to go to battle with BellSouth in order to win customers over to its VoIP service.

Consumers in the Atlanta will now be able to receive Comcast’s Digital Voice for $39.95 a month when bundled with cable and internet. However, the VoIP service is $54.95 without the cable and internet. Whereas BellSouth provides a limited VoIP service for $29.99. It is expected that the full BellSouth service will cost $59.00, when it is fully released.

According to last year’s statistics, there were approximately 700,000 VoIP users in 2004, and that number has grown to 3 million in 2005.