Framingham, Massachusetts-based International Data Corp believes that if people can get long-distance telephony for the price of a local call, there will be quite a few takers! The researcher forecasts that the number of people using Internet telephony systems will rise to 16m by the end of 1999 from 500,000 at the end of last year. There will also, says the consultancy, be a corresponding rise in the value of the market. At the end of 1995 it was found to be worth $3.5m, but this will mushroom to $560m by the end of the decade. IDC says that VocalTec Inc has far and away the lion’s share of the market, with 94% – not too surprising as it had a head start of about six months over anyone else. IDC believes, however, that three factors have to be satisfied before this growth can be achieved. Firstly, seamless communication is needed so ensure calls can be made whether or not the recipient is Internet-connected. Secondly, open standards to ensure compatibility between vendors’ products are needed and thirdly, a new generation of value-added features are needed to bring Internet telephony up to the standard that’s already available to users of full price telephony. The report, The World Wide Web Phones Home – Internet Telephony Market Assessment 1996-1999, is available immediately for $3,000.
