The Rise of IP-Based Voice and the Need for Global IP Telephony Reachability

The emergence of VoIP (Voice over IP) as a service that competes directly with PSTN/PLMN (Public Switched Telephony Network/ Public Land Mobile Network) voice services presents a challenge to established voice service providers. Provisioning of VoIP services by new entrants is eroding the revenues enjoyed by PSTN/PLMN voice Service Providers, particularly for long-distance calls. Economic drivers for VoIP offerings over traditional voice include: A packet-switched VoIP connection is far more efficient in terms of network use than a 64 kb/s nailed-up, traditional voice call circuit. An IP network costs less than a PSTN or PLMN, since it can accommodate different services on a single platform and requires only one team for operation, management, and maintenance. It is possible to provide a VoIP service with little or no network investment by using an "over-the-top" (or OTT) model in which the VoIP Service Provider uses an existing network as a bit-pipe.