Article Summary
The popularity of computer-to-telephone call services is expanding at a phenomenal rate, threatening traditional phone companies' profits. Skype, a European based telephony company that offers this service is amongst the leaders in the field and has formed a joint venture with a Chinese company with the hopes of being able to capitalize on this emerging market.
However, the telecom companies in mainland China are aggressively pursuing the systematic removal of these types of services. China's Ministry of Information Industries has developed policies which allow only six players, all of them Chinese companies to offer VoIP services, practically outlawing any other companies from entering the market place. However, many industry analysts note that China is facing an uphill battle. Voice over internet protocol or VoIP as it is more commonly known, can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection and access to a foreign operator.
With the governments blessing, China's largest fixed line operator, China Telecom, has been blocking computer-to-telephone and computer-to-computer services as well as blacklisting and denying service to users of Skype.
In the last year alone, VoIP accounted for 46% of all long-distance calls in China, up 5% from the previous year, while traditional, land based telephone providers saw their market share fall to 29%.
The government has already decided that very few operating licenses will be awarded to foreign companies, and the success of international players will rest solely on their ability to establish agreements that provide revenue sharing with domestic operators.
Emerging Technology in the Telephone Market Place
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP as is shall ...