VoIP Toolkit

Ringing the changes with VoIP

Ben Charny CNET News.com

Published: 10 Sep 2003 11:45 BST

Net2Phone chief executive Stephen Greenberg doesn't use automated teller machines.

He remembers using an ATM only once, about 15 years ago when he was stuck on a business trip in Los Angeles. When he needs cash, Greenberg says he grabs it from an envelope at home that his wife stuffs with twenties.

Though he’s simultaneously ignoring one modern-day technological staple, Greenberg is among the biggest players trying to make a staple out of voice over IP (VoIP), a new technology many believe will one day challenge, if not unseat, dominant telephone companies such as Verizon Communications and BellSouth.

VoIP creates a telephone service that uses the Internet rather than a telephone company's privately owned network. The result is unlimited dialling plans at prices that undercut anything most telephone companies offer.

At Net2Phone, Greenberg has managed to build a sizeable following among cable companies, which use Net2Phone to launch their own VoIP dialling services. The company is also expanding its calling card business. Greenberg spoke recently to CNET News.com about these and other issues.

Q: Who is taking most of the VoIP initiatives nowadays? Is it the cable companies, or are telephone companies finally starting to work on something for their digital subscriber line networks?
A: The RBOCs (regional Bell operating companies, or Baby Bells) really don't want to see an encroachment on long distance by offering voice over DSL. But for cable companies, this triple play -- voice, video and data -- is the kind of glue they need.

Is there a cable operator among them that's shown the most leadership?
Really, it was cable's Cox Communications, which first started on the circuit-switched side. They clearly showed that when a cable operator offers VoIP, their churn rate goes down and the penetration rate goes up.