IP Telephony

Internet Protocol (IP) telephony (also known as Internet telephony) is a service based on Voice over IP (VoIP), a disruptive technology that is rapidly gaining ground against traditional telephone network technologies. In Japan and South Korea up to 10% of subscribers, as of January 2005, have switched to this digital telephone service. A January 2005 Newsweek article suggested that Internet telephony may be “the next big thing.” As of 2006 many VoIP companies offer service to consumers and businesses.

IP telephony uses a broadband Internet connection and IP Phones to transmit conversations as data packets. In addition to replacing POTS (plain old telephone service), IP telephony is also competing with mobile phone networks by offering free or lower cost connections via WiFi hotspots. VoIP is also used on private wireless networks, which may or may not have a connection to the outside telephone network.

IP telephony technology transforms many non-telephone electronics devices into unified communications devices which simulate telephone usage, such as adding telephone-like features to portable game devices, digital picture frames, or handheld GPS receivers, typically by incorporating a voice engine. When used on a personal computer, an IP telephone is referred to as a soft phone.

Usage of IP Telephony
By the end of 2006, there were a total of nearly 4 billion mobile and fixed line subscribers and over 1 billion Internet users worldwide. This included 1.27 billion fixed line subscribers and 2.68 billion mobile subscribers