The telecom incumbents would have to pass through a bad phase in near future in the wake of new market threat coming from Web-based voice applications that provide customers free or inexpensive international calling services.
The traditional telecoms will be forced to bring down thier prices and offer attractive services due to the competition from cable companies and wireless carriers, analyst firm Yankee Group warned.
In its latest report, Web Voice Services Challenge the Incumbents in Telecommunications, Yankee Group asserted that the build out of voice services such as Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, Microsoft’s Windows Live Calls and AOL’s AIM Phoneline have crated mass awareness towards VoIP services by ensuring people free calling between PC to PC.
These contextual applications would entice customers towards VoIP services that in turn force the traditional telecoms to provide comparable voice services. At the same time, the Voice supported online gaming, shopping or building content spur more and more customers towards VoIP, the report says.
Jennifer Simpson, Consumer Technologies and Services analyst for Yankee Group comments,
With a footprint larger than the telcos and cablecos, as well as price points far below premium mobile services, web-based VoIP applications are seen as a disruptive threat for traditional telcos in the industry right now.
