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The Internet Centre: European Telephone Operators Under Threat

Conventional mobile and fixed line European telephone companies face an immediate and growing threat from computer-based voice communications, a leading local online solutions provider said this week.

Conventional mobile and fixed line European telephone companies face an immediate and growing threat from computer-based voice communications, a leading local online solutions provider said this week.

Terry Pentland of the Internet Centre in the United Kingdom was speaking after launching the first of a series of workshops in Birmingham, England to introduce organisations to the benefits of VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol.

He compared the launch of VoIP to the revolution that heralded the growth of e-mail communications and Web sites over the last decade or so.

“The biggest single factor in launching this second major revolution in communications is the rapid growth of broadband – particularly in the business sector," Pentland said. "This provides the infrastructure that VoIP needs to really take off."

"Secondly, VoIP services have now dramatically improved their offering and include the back up security that businesses and other organisations require."

"To-date, VoIP has been characterized by cheap, relatively low quality services that have appealed to small groups of individuals," Pentland continued. "Now with new higher quality and reliable services coming into the market, the stage is set for smaller organizations to lead the way in reducing costs and benefiting from telephony services only previously available at much greater cost. Over the next few years, telephony and computing services will merge into one and the number of fixed telephone lines required will decline significantly. Similarly, the so-called 3G services provided by mobile operators will look increasingly expensive and dated. This poses a real threat to the profitability to the large European companies that provide these services such as BT.”

The Internet Centre launches its new U.K.-based VoIP service this month and already has a waiting list of customers.

About The Internet Centre

The Internet Centre is one of the longest established internet companies in the United Kingdom and now ranks as one of the leading specialists in bespoke Web based solutions. It provides support for www.autoindustry.co.uk, one of the most frequently used sector web sites in the United Kingdom and financed by the U.K. Government's Department of Trade and Industry.

Contacts:

Terry Pentland – Tel: 00 44 121 248 7779
terry@theinternetcentre.co.uk

Ray Woods – Tel: 00 44 7967686230
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