AT&T Boards VoIP Train, Targets Top 100 U.S. Markets

The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier vowed to include business and enterprise offerings in its new approach, but executives declined to reveal exactly how much these services will cost or how it plans to incorporate VoIP into its existing sales channel.

Whatever the plan, VoIP solution providers certainly will have their choice of carriers to support. Since Veteran's Day, just about every major carrier,Qwest Communications International, MCI, Sprint and Verizon,has announced commitments to VoIP initiatives in the coming months.

"Their involvement is an indication that VoIP is a train that cannot be stopped," said Pete Wilson, president and CEO of Telwares, a telecommunications consulting company in Destin, Fla. "Rather than sit on the sidelines and let these upstarts get all the market share, legacy carriers finally have decided to bite the bullet and take on the risk of cannibalizing their own revenue to make sure they lead the way [in VoIP]."

It is not yet clear how enterprise VoIP services will differ by carrier; companies have been vague in their commitments to the technology since the free-for-all began earlier this year. AT&T Chairman and CEO David Dorman said last week that his company will provide the technology to businesses in the top 100 markets in the United States.

Dorman also said that the company pursued VoIP technology because it hopes to avoid at least some of the $11 billion in fees it now pays to send traditional voice traffic over the "last mile" of lines owned by local exchange carriers,a scenario that plagues all carriers except for RCN.

Reaction to AT&T's announcement was mixed. While some solution providers said they fear competition from such a heavy hitter, others said they welcome the opportunity to partner with such an influential company.

At Quintum Technologies, a VoIP switch vendor in Eatontown, N.J., Vice President of Marketing Chuck Rutledge said he is hopeful that his company could become part of AT&T's sales channel. "When they go out to their customer base, they need to put a piece of equipment in the enterprise to help route VoIP traffic," Rutledge said. "We provide those products, and we'd love to work with them to give customers a more valuable solution."